


minor notes that come to serenade you

by MiniNephthys



Category: Dreamwidth Roleplay
Genre: F/F, F/M, Inspired by Roleplay/Roleplay Adaptation, M/M, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-20
Updated: 2016-09-01
Packaged: 2018-03-02 13:15:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 85,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2813288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiniNephthys/pseuds/MiniNephthys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I deleted all the tags but it's still a RP fic dump.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I deliberated over whether or not to post these for several months, in the longest case. On the one hand, RP fics. On the other hand, fics sitting on my hard drive not getting posted somewhere.
> 
> The desire to archive things neatly won out.
> 
> For the two Forestcovered fics, the game has a Spirited Away element and all characters have work names, so: Amaya = Yonaka, Yuu = Ventus, Mii = Vanitas. We're very mature and serious players.

_lived unbruised - forestcovered_

“I’ve read a lot about unicorns,” says Amaya, “but nothing ever mentioned how much they eat.” She, Yuu, and Mii are searching the immense farmlands for the culprit who’s been grazing so much without permission.

“Shouldn’t be too hard,” says Mii. “Follow the path of the munched grass, find the unicorn, convince them to stop.”

“Wonder why it pays so much…” Yuu is thinking to himself when the trio spots the unicorn in the distance and Amaya stops abruptly. “What’s up?”

“I probably shouldn’t get too close,” she says. When Yuu tilts his head in a ‘why not’ gesture, she asks, “Do you know much about unicorns?”

“Not really,” says Yuu. “I’ve seen Rapidash called that before, but this one’s not on fire.”

“Most unicorns aren’t. The thing about unicorns is…” Amaya hesitates. “They’ll only let ‘pure’ people get near them.”

“Yuu, you should go,” says Mii, folding his arms.

“I can do it,” says Yuu, still confused, “but Amaya, you should come with-”

She narrows her eyes. “No.”

“Why not?” Yuu asks.

“Because,” she says, “when people say ‘pure’ they mean something else that I definitely don’t qualify for, and you do.”

“But-”

“Just go pet the unicorn already!”

* * *

_body hollow - forestcovered_

Yuu is browsing through the market’s selection when he comes across a stand selling purple beads. “Oh, they’re still selling these? I told Tsadi I’d help him figure out what they were, but I never did find anyone who knew.”

Amaya’s attention is caught, and she comes over to look, only to put her hands on Yuu’s shoulders to try and steer him away. “They’re not for you.”

“So you know what they are?” Yuu asks. He doesn’t resist being pulled away.

“I know what they are, and if you don’t know already then I’m not going to tell you,” says Amaya. She lets go of him once they’re a distance from that stand.

“I told a friend I’d help him, though,” says Yuu. “If I promise not to buy any, will you tell me what they’re for?”

She frowns. “If it’s for a friend… But then I’d have to explain everything else to you and I don’t want to do that.”

“Just a little?” he asks, with big, wibbly eyes. “I won’t ask anything else.”

“Well, I guess there’s way worse than anal beads,” Amaya says, slowly. “They’re something you put inside your body and they feel nice. Don’t tell anybody but your friend I said that.”

He nods. “Promise.”

When Mii finds Amaya later, she’s sulking against a tree and embarrassment is coming off her along with a mix of other negative feelings. “Something happen?” he asks.

“Yuu asked me what anal beads were,” she says.

“Oh.” Mii pauses. “I don’t know what those are either.”

Amaya sighs heavily. “You put them in your body and they feel nice, and they’re stuff for adults so don’t go telling people I told you this.”

“Fine- wait, are you even old enough to be doing adult stuff?” he asks. She doesn’t look any older than he is, physically.

“I’m seventeen, and whether or not I’m old enough, I’ve seen way worse than that already so it doesn’t matter.” She crosses her arms, and adds in a tone like this will end the conversation, “Spiked anal beads.”

He tries to process that with the information she just gave him and quickly decides he doesn’t really want to.

That ends the conversation.

* * *

_when the wars came closer - satanick/valmont psl_

An insistent knocking at Satanick’s door interrupts the rather pleasant things Satanick was doing to Valmont, and Valmont is almost sorry when he stops moving to answer. There’s annoyance in his tone, though he’s still smiling. “What is it? Answer in four words or less.”

“Fumus is here, sir,” comes the reply from outside the door.

Satanick stops smiling completely. “Just Fumus, or Fumus with an army of angels?”

“Just Fumus.”

Satanick sighs. It might be in relief, but Valmont doesn’t know how to read him and can’t really focus in this present situation with Satanick still inside of him. “Give me fifteen minutes, then show him in here.”

Valmont starts. “Are you-?”

“Don’t worry! I’ll have you finished and dressed again by then, promise!”

Valmont is treated to a rather nice climax and is properly in all his clothes again, though some of them are wrinkled from their time on the floor and he’s rather sore about that, when a man is shown through the door to Satanick’s bedroom. Valmont’s spiritual sense is not the best, but even he can make the conclusion that anyone Satanick is worried about showing up with an angelic army is not a demon.

Fumus has bags around his eyes and a lit cigarette in his hand, and his voice is gruff. “There’s a discrepancy in our last terms of ceasefire. We need to go over it.”

“You came all the way here for that?” asks Satanick. He’s barely modest, with mussed hair and wearing only pants. He let Valmont redress himself, but he never said anything about making it look like they weren’t just having sex. “At least come over for something interesting! I hardly ever see your face and-”

“Satanick, I know the word might not mean anything to you, but this is important,” says Fumus. “We could go back to war over this.”

Satanick’s face droops. “Right, right. So what is it?”

Fumus glances over to Valmont, and Valmont tries not to shrink in on himself at being noticed. “Could you dismiss your guest first?”

“But I wasn’t done with him,” says Satanick, folding his arms.

Valmont’s response comes automatically, voice rising in protest. “I was done with you!”

Satanick starts to say something, but Fumus speaks over him. “I’d prefer to discuss this without outside parties in the room. You can spend more time with your conquest later.”

“C-Conquest!?” splutters Valmont, indignant.

The word seems to have amused Satanick enough to relent. “Fiiine, I’ll send him home. Since you asked so nicely.”

He sets a hand on Valmont’s shoulder, and Valmont has hardly any time to prepare for the jolt that is switching worlds before they’re back in Valmont’s own room. “Sorry to have to cut our meeting short,” says Satanick, stepping away, “but when god comes calling, even I have to answer.”

“That was your god?” asks Valmont. He’d figured something like that, but to actually meet a god was… odd. He expected someone a bit more sympathetic. And who didn’t negotiate with demons.

“I’ll see you again soon, to make up for this time!” says Satanick, and before Valmont can tell him to go screw himself, he’s gone.

* * *

_the only love I've known - yosuke/yonaka psl_

After the debacle that was Rise, Yukiko, and Chie giving chocolates to everyone but Yu, with Naoto making a brief appearance, Yonaka is the last girl left in the room. She’s been fiddling with her bag and hasn’t said a word during the proceedings.

When Chie’s gone, she clears her throat. “I also have friend chocolate for some of you.” She pulls out a clearly store-bought package of chocolate and places it on Yu’s desk. “Here you go.”

“Thank you,” says Yu. He’s pretty sure she was giving him the evil eye while she put it on his desk.

Yonaka says nothing back to him, only rummages in her bag for another package of chocolate. She hands it to Kanji. “Here’s some for you, Kanji.”

“Sweet, thanks!” Kanji accepts the chocolate with a smile.

“And, um…” Yonaka’s bag is now empty, and she balls it up and throws it in the trash. “I’m out of chocolate, so, Yosuke, can you come see me later? I’ll be in front of the school.” Her face is red. “Don’t make me wait too long, okay?”

“I won’t!” says Yosuke, trying not to sound too excited and failing. “Promise.”

She smiles and reaches out to brush her hand gently over his for a moment before turning and leaving the classroom.

“...Well,” says Yu. “I guess I’d better get going.” ‘If I want to be done rejecting girls before evening’ goes unsaid.

“I thought I’d be envious of you and your ridiculous chick magnet skills, but, actually?” Yosuke shakes his head. “One girl is plenty.”

* * *

_the food started coming out - yosuke/yonaka psl_

“They’re that bad at cooking?” asks Yonaka, eyes wide. “Then why on earth are you letting them cook for you again?”

“Geeze, if I could stop them-” Yosuke rubs his forehead. “You might be able to get through to them. If you can’t get them to call it off, then at least… try and help them make it edible, or just not poisonous?”

A serious expression appears on her face. She nods. “Alright, I’ll try. No Mystery Food X repeats tonight.”

“Great! I’m counting on you, Yonaka.”

* * *

Yonaka is the first one out of the kitchen. She clears her throat, though the guys had already been watching the kitchen door in trepidation. “Tonight we thought instead of all making the same dish, we’d share one ingredient instead, since that’s less boring.”

“Boring wasn’t what-” Yu nudges Yosuke in the side and he shuts up.

“So, first for your consideration: Rise’s pasta with prosciutto.” Yonaka steps out of the way, and a smiling Rise sets a pot of pasta on the table before sitting down.

“Next, we have Chie’s white fish wrapped in prosciutto-” The dish appears on the table, and Chie looks satisfied as she takes a seat.

“Yukiko’s strawberry and prosciutto spinach salad-” Yukiko looks more nervous than the rest as she puts down her salad and sits next to Chie.

“And lastly, Naoto’s prosciutto with melon.” Naoto places the dish on the table and sits beside the other girls.

Yu, Yosuke, Kanji, and Teddie each regard the dishes put before them.

Rise’s pasta looks over-seasoned, as is typical for her. Chie’s looks a little overcooked… Yukiko’s has a strange mix of ingredients, and Naoto’s is fine.

“How about each of us tries one dish first? Claiming Naoto’s,” says Yosuke, before anyone can agree.

Yu looks over the table again before starting to dish himself some of Rise’s pasta.

“Sensei’s brave!” Teddie sparkles momentarily before remembering he still has to choose. “In that case, I’ll have some of Chie’s fish.”

“Guess that leaves me with Yukiko’s…” Kanji drops some salad onto his plate.

Each of them takes a bite. Chews. Swallows.

“How is it?” the girls ask, all except for Yonaka who merely sits there looking confident.

Yu speaks first. “It’s a little heavier on the spices than I like it but you’ve picked the right kind of spices for the dish. It’s good, Rise.”

“I thought these might taste weird together, but actually they’re complementary,” says Kanji. “You did a good job.”

“Could’ve cooked this a little less, but it’s still beary good!” says Teddie.

Yosuke chomps down on a second bite before remembering to add, ‘’s good.”

The girls all relax, and Naoto turns to Yonaka. “How did you know what dishes to assign them? Mine was easily the least work, yet all of them turned out well. For that matter, why choose prosciutto?”

“I figured I’d have to keep an eye on them anyway, so I might as well give them stuff that suited them. And…” Yonaka smiles brightly. “Praise be to prosciutto, radiant and beautiful.”

* * *

_only meant to swim - dramadramaduck_

Retasu’s worry of the day is that her boyfriend probably wants to have sex with her. More than that, she probably wants to have sex with him, but she doesn’t want to screw it up.

“What if I hurt him, or, or I do so badly that he doesn’t want to do it again?” she asks, wringing her fingers together.

Cherryblod shakes his head. “You won’t.”

“But-”

“You’re human, aren’t you? All the relevant bits for sex, anyway,” he says.

She turns even more red and nods.

“And he’s human too?”

Another nod.

“Humans evolved to make sex as attractive as possible, since it’s the only way they can reproduce. You are not going to mess up so badly that he never wants to have sex with you again, and you aren’t going to hurt him,” he says. When she still looks uncertain, he adds, “My wife is a lobster much larger than myself. If we’ve been sexually active all our married life, then you can figure out sex with someone you’re designed to be compatible with.”

Retasu blushes up to her ears. “That’s- um-”

“Too much information?”

“Yes. Sorry.”

* * *

_hesitate to laugh - dramadramaduck_

She doesn’t have to apologize to him. That’s his rule.

Even if she breaks a teacup, he assures her that it was an accident. Even if she visits him five times in a week, he tells her that she must’ve needed it.

Even if he’s poisoned and she wasn’t there, he reminds her there’s nothing she could have done.

Retasu is oddly quiet when she looks after him, and he has to ask, “What’s on your mind?”

“About meeting you…” She fidgets, but finally finishes with, “I’m not sorry.”

A grin breaks out on his face. “I’m not sorry either.”

* * *

_a steady, blessed peace - dramadramaduck_

When you’ve been fighting against demons near-constantly, you tend to have very little time for yourself. It makes living in Nagisa’s world seem so much more… lazy? Lazy’s not the word. More like Yuji’s schedule is suddenly free and he doesn’t know at all how to fill it.

“Maybe you could take up a hobby?” Nagisa sounds concerned over the phone. “Or sports? You have to be pretty athletic by now with all that fighting you were doing.”

“I have music, but I don’t think I’m ready to get back into that,” Yuji says. It reminds him of his parents too much. “I could take up sports, I guess… But that would still only be a little of my time.”

Nagisa hmms thoughtfully.

“Maybe I should catch up on all the movies I wanted to see. You want to eat popcorn and watch bad romcoms together?” Yuji asks.

For some reason, Nagisa squeaks a little before asking, “You mean at the theater? Together?”

Yuji blinks. “Netflix would be fine. Either way.”

“...I can’t believe this.”

* * *

_this big world full of crawly terrible things - tsumuri/lapis psl_

Tsumuri is not a good person, and everyone more intelligent than an idiot knows that.

He may smile radiantly and address Lapis with great affection, but he’s also come at her before with a chainsaw, and all his apologies of, “I forgot you couldn’t just heal up lost limbs, I’ll try not to do it again, so sorry!” after nearly lopping off an arm won’t get Lapis’s ghost friends to treat him with anything less than suspicion and dislike.

Even Lapis knows that he’s dangerous. It’s hard to think of anyone she’s seen swinging an axe around as perfectly safe, after all. She’s just reckless with her own health, and anyone calling her cute surprises her, no matter how dubious the source of the compliments is.

Tsumuri’s gotten a little better lately with remembering that Lapis can’t regenerate quickly from injuries. To compensate for this increased good behavior, he’s also gotten more violent with everyone else around her, and she’s frequently breaking up his fights, though they’re almost too one-sided to be called that.

He’s dangerous, violent, cruel, and actively malicious to others. He enjoys inflicting pain and makes no secret of it. Why Lapis continues to allow him to even associate with her, much less go out with her, sometimes is hard for her to remember.

No, six-armed hugs isn’t enough of a reason. Neither is the look of delight on his face when she cooks for him (meat dishes are his favorites, of course).

“Lapis dear~” With her lost in thought, he slides two of his arms over her shoulders. “What are you thinking about?”

“I was just wondering why I talk to you,” she says. Tact is not something she’s particularly good at.

“I don’t know either,” he says. She can feel his chin on top of her head. “You’re far more kind than me, and more virtuous, and altogether a far better person, so I won’t consider it an insult if you decide to sic your ghost friends on me one day.”

She frowns. “They’re not like dogs, I don’t sic them on people.”

“Close enough.” Tsumuri chuckles. “But, really, I won’t be surprised when you decide you’ve had enough of me.”

That doesn’t sound right to her. “So why do you stay around?”

“Oh, because you’re a jewel of a woman and I enjoy every moment I spend with you.” He slides two more arms around her and gives her a squeeze. “No matter when you get sick of me, I won’t regret the time we spent together.”

Lapis blushes, just a little. “...I’m not that special.”

“You are, of course you are.” He spins her around to face him, then kisses her forehead. “Anyone who says you aren’t special is an idiot.”

Tsumuri is not a good person, but Lapis likes spending time with him, and she’s either brave or stupid enough to think he won’t cause her harm. He might be right saying she’ll eventually grow sick of him: he probably is, but she’s not tired of him yet, and for now she feels the same about their time together as he does.

* * *

_the infernal rattling of the rain - lapis/suga psl_

Suga is not fond of storms. Rain makes the ghosts more active, though the night glowstone still keeps them at bay.

Though he knows, intellectually, that everything is safe here, he takes a large stack of memos and heads to Lapis’s room.

Lapis is just getting out of bed when she sees him. “Suga, did you need - are you okay?” she asks, noticing the look on his face.

He hands her a memo, ashamed of himself.

‘May I stay with you until the storm passes?’

A smile appears on her face. “Of course, you don’t need to ask.”

* * *

_the sound of the truth - mogebox_

“Truth or dare, Ivlis,” Yonaka says.

Ivlis isn’t concerned about what Yonaka might ask him or what she might dare him to do. “Truth.”

Yonaka strokes her chin thoughtfully. “Would you rather kiss a Mogeko, or kiss Kcalb?”

That question doesn’t take much thought: almost anything has to be better than Kcalb. “The Mogeko, any day.”

“...Really.” Yonaka looks up at the ceiling. “I don’t say this ever, but this would be a really good time for a Mogeko to pop up so I could use it as an example, if anybody in the castle is listening-”

With a small ‘poof’ that grabs the attention of some of the other players, a Mogeko appears next to them, looking confused.

“Thanks. Hey, Mogeko?” Yonaka stands up, reaches under the cushion she’s sitting on and pulls out a knife. “Stick out your tongue for me or I’ll kill you.”

Before anyone can comment on the death threat, the Mogeko yelps and sticks out a tongue that is dripping something Ivlis hopes is just saliva. Not much is visible at first until Yonaka grabs onto the end with her other hand and yanks, revealing more and more of it, like unrolling a particularly disgusting ball of yarn.

After backing up at least a foot with no end to the tongue in sight, Yonaka stops, not lessening her grip. “This much would be able to go down your throat, into your esophagus and then your stomach. So are you sure you’d rather not kiss Kcalb instead?”

He doesn’t want back down once he’s given his answer or even theoretically kiss Kcalb, but the thought of the alternative makes Ivlis green in the face. Still. “...I take it back.”

She nods, before swinging the Mogeko by the tongue into the wall hard enough to make an audible crack. She lets go and returns to her seat, slipping her knife back under her cushion. “Your turn again.”

The Mogeko’s not moving. Ivlis looks between it and Yonaka. “Is it just unconscious or-”

“I don’t really care.”

* * *

_too good to be used - mogeko castle_

"Defect Mogeko," says Yonaka, shortly after returning from a village to shop for supplies. "They were talking about Mogekos there, and they said something weird. About Mogeko tongues?"

Defect Mogeko chokes for a moment. "...Yeah?"

"I've never seen your tongue, now that I think about it. Can you show it to me?" she asks.

"Sure you want me to?" he replies. "It ain't pretty." She nods, and slowly he sticks his tongue out.

She turns greener and greener at every inch of his dripping tongue that's revealed. At about a foot in length, she says, "Okay, okay, that's enough!"

He slides it all back in at once, slurping involuntarily. "Warned ya, missy."

"...Defect Mogeko, I love you, but please never kiss me with tongue."

“Gotcha.”

* * *

_water won't clean you - wadanohara and the great blue sea_

Cherryblood lowers his knife a little as she tells the group off, entranced by her beauty and the fearlessness in her eyes.

She’s gorgeous, and she’s telling them never to visit her sea again. For a moment, he wants to refuse on the basis of never being able to see her.

Then his fellow gang members put themselves in position for a fight, and he has no choice but to follow. He apologizes to her in his head.

She beats them all soundly, armed with just a club and her claws.

Later, he’ll tend to her injuries, and she’ll ask why he’s doing this. He’ll shrug and say he just does what he feels like.

* * *

_someday when spring is here - shin megami tensei: devil survivor_

Amane doesn’t see Kazuya very often: both of them are always busy with one thing or another, after the lockdown. Still, they make time for each other somehow, meeting in gaps between government discussions of demon usage.

The flowers on Amane’s windowsill are sent from Kazuya, during a period where they could hardly pause to breathe, much less see each other. They’re gardenias, and though they’re not Amane’s favorite flower, she displays them because of the sender and the note attached.

‘Secret love’.

She thinks Kazuya probably looked up the meaning of flowers, but even so, it makes her blush.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For Forestcovered fics, the game has a Spirited Away element and all characters have work names, so: Yuu = Ventus, Mii = Vanitas, Luca = Aqua, Tsadi = Aleph, Quin = April Sinclair.

_they were connected at the head, at the head, and the doctor cut them apart - forestcovered_

The first thing Natsuru says when she returns to her room is, “Oh, I must be more tired than I thought.”

It’s because she sees two Eaters in her room, one with the prim and proper posture of the female Eater and one slouching as the male Eater does. Since they’re always in the same body, she knows she’s seeing double.

One Eater, the girl, turns to her and smiles brightly. “Happy birthday!”

“Happy birthday,” says the guy, grinning. “Got ya a present.”

Tiredness could explain seeing double, but hearing double is new to her. Maybe there’s more to this. “What’s going on?” Natsuru asks.

“We finished paying off our debt,” says the girl Eater. “For that, we received the benefits of our wish.”

“And our wish was to be able to split and come back together whenever we wanted,” says the guy Eater. “Pretty handy, huh?”

“I bet it is,” says Natsuru. It’d solve most of their problems they’ve acquired over hundreds of years. But, wait, that doesn’t explain- “If you finished working off your debt, how are you here?”

“We can travel the worlds on our own power,” says the girl. “That, we don’t require the Witch’s help with.”

“So we figured, since your birthday was so close, we’d keep it a secret and surprise you with a present,” says the guy. “Makes it even better than if we’d told you about this part, yeah?”

“What’s the other part?” asks Natsuru. This is a good present on its own.

They both give sly smiles, and approach. They look even more like each other when they do that.

“Well, we figured, since we both like you so much...” says the guy, draping himself over Natsuru’s shoulder.

“...why shouldn’t both of us show you that at once?” finishes the girl, circling around to wrap her arms around Natsuru’s back. “Now that it’s possible.”

This… may be one of the best presents Natsuru has ever received.

* * *

_make me more naive - forestcovered_

There is a sock hanging from the doorknob of the door to Mii’s room.

Mii is looking at it in pure confusion. It’s a black sock and he doesn’t think that it’s his. He doesn’t think it’s Yuu’s, either. He’s not as familiar with Luca’s wardrobe, and there’s no one else in their shared room, so he can’t think of anyone else the sock would belong to.

Shrugging, Mii reaches for the door.

“Wouldn’t do that, if I were you.”

Mii stops and turns to stare down at a small green catlike thing. “Why can’t I go in my own room?”

“Sock on the door. Universal sign to roommates: ‘I’m having sex so stay out’,” says the stranger.

Mii blinks. “You’re joking.”

“Swear it’s true. Even I know that and Mogekos aren’t big on courtesy.” The Mogeko pauses. “Or hiding when they ever manage to get action.”

That’s too much information, but Mii’s already thinking about something else. “My roommates aren’t having sex.”

“You want to open the door and find out for sure?”

“No,” Mii says, quickly.

“That’s what I thought.” The Mogeko frowns. “Can you help me out a second? I’m looking for missy- uh, Amaya.”

Mii stares for a moment before silently jerking his head toward the closed door.

“...Oh.” The Mogeko plops on the floor. “Probably should’ve figured.”

“I have to get something from my room.”

“I have to talk to missy.”

They look at each other, sigh, and settle down in the floor’s lounge to wait.

It feels like at least an hour later, an hour full of uncomfortable feelings for Mii, when the door with the sock opens. A head of black hair emerges, briefly unfamiliar because of the lack of braids, and Yonaka grabs her sock off the doorknob.

Then she looks up and makes eye contact with Mii. She turns beet red and slams the door shut.

Faintly, Yuu’s voice can be heard from inside. “What’s wrong?”

Mii groans and rubs his forehead. “I’m not letting Yuu out of my sight again.”

* * *

_some anonymous room - forestcovered_

Tsadi is nervous, and Quin doesn’t know exactly why. It shows in his fidgeting and his apparent inability to look directly at her.

“...Tsadi?” she asks. “Is something-”

“No. Um.” He clears his throat. “I was just thinking, since we’ve been assigned to separate rooms, and that’s… inconvenient… There are plenty of empty rooms on the upper floors, right?”

She nods.

“Maybe we could take one of those instead. Or at least visit. It’s not like the Witch will notice, and anyway… we could have some privacy…?” Tsadi’s face is bright red, and hers is rapidly turning the same shade.

“...I, I think that’s a great idea.”

(Turns out that empty rooms don’t have beds.)

* * *

_you feel this way because I know you - forestcovered_

“You feel everything the other feels?” asks Yonaka, sitting in Mii and Yuu’s room. Their roommates are out, and Mii figures they won’t be back for a while.

When Yuu nods, she goes on, “So if one of you broke an arm…”

“The other one wouldn’t feel the physical pain,” Mii says, “but they’d feel the emotions that come along with it and they’d figure something had happened.”

“And when I kissed Yuu the first time?” she asks, a small smile coming to her lips.

“I felt all his embarrassment,” says Mii, while Yuu looks away. “He’s still like that every time you kiss him.” It’s really awkward, too.

While Yuu turns the approximate shade of a tomato, Yonaka turns to him. “What if I kissed Senpai now?”

Yuu looks back at her with wide eyes. “I guess, I’d feel whatever he felt.”

“Can I?” she asks, with a smile too wide to be at all called innocent.

Urp. It’s Mii’s turn to pretend he’s not turning red. It only gets worse when Yuu says, “If he’s okay with it.”

“...I don’t… mind.”

She gives Mii a second to brace himself before she’s in his lap, arms wound around his shoulders. She leans up and presses her mouth against his, softly at first and then more demanding when he begins to respond.

She kisses more deeply than he would have expected, but it’s hard to complain about it. He couldn’t even if he wanted to: his mouth is occupied, and he can’t seem to do anything with his hands besides pull her closer to him.

Yonaka’s close enough already, but she presses still closer and he can feel the rise and fall of her chest. Occasionally a whimper or gasp leaves her lips, which only drives him to deepen the kiss more.

It takes him a moment longer than it should to realize the desire he’s feeling isn’t all his.

Mii opens his eyes to glance at Yuu, who is sitting in the same spot with a hand covering the bottom part of his face. Even that doesn’t completely hide his blush, which is up to his ears. He’s staring at them.

Mii breaks the kiss and nods his head in Yuu’s direction.

“Yuu, you don’t have to just sit there,” says Yonaka. Her breath is already starting to become heavy.

Yuu jolts a little at being addressed. “I don’t?”

“No, you can come over here and join us,” she says. Mii nods.

“But I don’t know what to do if you’re already…” Even as he says this, Yuu slides towards them, until he’s within range for Yonaka to pull him flush with her. His hands hover awkwardly over her hips.

“Do whatever,” she says.

It doesn’t take an emotional connection to figure out what Yuu wants to do. “Touch her,” says Mii.

It’s hard, when they’re feeling the same want, to distinguish whose is whose. Right now it takes more mental energy than Mii wants to afford, so he doesn’t dwell on it, instead returning to that deep kiss. He doesn’t dwell over whether it’s him or Yuu, with his hands gently slipping underneath the bottom of her shirt, making her moan right now: it doesn’t matter, as long as she keeps doing it.

He knows Yuu can tell that he’s turned on because he can tell the same for Yuu; he knows Yonaka can tell because she’s very deliberately rocking her body against him. She reaches back behind her and tugs on Yuu’s hip, encouraging him to grind against her, and a wave of embarrassment and further arousal passes over him and Mii.

“What about-” Yuu starts.

“Don’t worry about me,” she says.

Mii and Yuu reach for her chest at the same time. Mii backs off, only to slip a hand under her skirt instead.

Yonaka’s eyes are hazy with desire, when she’s able to keep them open. She presses kisses over Mii’s neck, rocking between him and Yuu and drawing out moans from both of them. Their fingers rubbing her make her gasp, and every time she murmurs ‘please’ Mii feels double the need surge within him.

They barely remember to get their pants off. Yuu is the first one to cry out and go still, and the feelings from that mean it doesn’t take Mii long to follow suit. As soon as he can do anything other than sit there and pant, he bats Yonaka’s hands (dangerously close to trying to finish herself off) away and rubs with renewed vigor as Yuu finally gets a chance to kiss her properly.

She doesn’t last much longer, either, and clings onto the both of them when she comes.

Afterward, they lay there in an exhausted heap. Yonaka is the first one to speak. “So… tell me that was a good idea?”

“Great idea,” says Yuu, with a near breathless laugh, “but not all the time.”

“It’s a little too intense to try that often,” says Mii. “But I wouldn’t mind doing it again.”

“Some other time.” Yonaka smiles and kisses both their cheeks. “Love you, Yuu, Senpai.”

* * *

_strangely less in pain - tower of animus_

It’s a challenge, torturing someone who enjoys pain and likes dying even more. Normally, Bernkastel would appreciate a challenge: they appear so rarely, over her long, long life.

Right now, though, she’s too annoyed at Ryuunosuke’s continued existence and what he did with her body to find any good in the situation.

He’s a brat. Yes, that’s what he is: a brat who doesn’t know what is and what isn’t a toy for him to play with. He’s a child, and like all misbehaving children, he deserves a punishment.

She just has to come up with the perfect one, first.

* * *

_the hazards of love - mogebox_

Etihw loves Kcalb, and Kcalb loves Etihw, but Kcalb loves Lobco too. Lobco loves Kcalb, and Etihw, when you get to know them, is not as scary as she previously worried they might be. And Etihw loves all things and people that make Kcalb happy.

Etihw’s not being replaced, any more than they were replacing the version of Etihw originally from this Kcalb’s world. The feelings that Kcalb has for Lobco are different, and Etihw doesn’t have to worry if they find Kcalb napping with her head in Lobco’s lap that she’ll stop sleeping in their arms.

They even go so far as to give Lobco advice about how not to get poked by a horn while she’s doing that.

* * *

_untouched by work or duty - satanick/valmont psl_

The only times Valmont misses Satanick’s presence, he swears, are when Satanick gets distracted after they have sex and leaves him alone in his castle with nothing more than a call over his shoulder, “Do whatever you want!”

What would he possibly want to do in a castle full of demons? He can’t get home on his own, so is he just going to wander around until Satanick returns and sends him back?

Apparently. He turns a corner and finds a small child with a bolt through her head and a horned woman. They’re evidently playing hopscotch by the chalk markings on the floor.

The young girl looks over at him, skipping to another square on each failed guess at his name. “Hi, Val-mo, Vally, Val-”

“Mr. Valmont,” says the woman.

“Valmont!” She finishes her course and picks up her marker. “Play with us!”

“How do-” Never mind, he doesn’t want to know how even the children here know his name. “I’m rather busy at the moment.”

“If you’re looking for Satanick,” says the woman, “he’ll be working for another half hour at least.”

Satanick left Valmont to go work? Somehow he feels vaguely offended by that. “I wouldn’t have thought him to be capable of work.”

The woman frowns. “He does have it in him, when necessary. It just usually doesn’t come up, so he’s free to act as he likes. Which leads to the kind of behavior that you already know.”

“Envi… I wanna play some more…” says the girl, a whining note creeping into her voice. Envi pats her on the head, gently.

Valmont folds his arms. “I don’t suppose there’s any way you could get him to hurry it up, could you?” He doesn’t really care about encouraging Satanick’s work ethic. He just wants to go home.

“I can’t. I’ve been assigned to take care of Crea here, and she could get into all sorts of trouble without an adult watching her.”

Crea nods vigorously. “All kinds of trouble! And Satanick lets me get away with all of it!”

That sounds more like him. Valmont replies, not bothering to hide his annoyance, “Well, what am I going to do for half an hour? I don’t want to stay in a castle of demons any longer than I have to.”

“Play hopscotch!” says Crea.

“Play hopscotch,” says Envi.

He stares. “You’re not serious.”

“Completely,” says Envi. “I can’t leave Crea alone, but as long as you’re under my guard, I swear that no harm will befall you: Satanick would be upset. Not every demon in this castle is as accommodating for his guests.”

Valmont considers his options carefully, with Crea staring up at him in hopeful anticipation, before sighing. “...What are the rules again?”

He regrets it when Satanick finds him still playing half an hour later. That he’s apparently a natural at it doesn’t help much.

* * *

_this love that I've found I detest - satanick/valmont psl_

Satanick is awful. He hits on Valmont incessantly and he alternates between hitting on Valmont’s subordinates and threatening them with violence if they don’t leave him and Valmont alone to do horrible things that Valmont does not at all enjoy.

Satanick is terrible, but Lil is worse.

The fact that Satanick had a wife at all shocked Valmont, but he supposes that if he had one, this was what she would look like: a devilish woman with Satanick’s same fashion sense and is that her hand on his arm?

“You’ve picked up a cute one this time, dear,” she coos. “Won’t you let me have a turn with him, too? Please, pretty please?”

“Darling-” Satanick says brightly, and Valmont prepares for the absolute worst, “-no.”

* * *

_beautiful lovely - yosuke/yonaka psl_

Yosuke picks up the littlest things about Yonaka, sometimes without even realizing it.

Her favorite food is white noodles, but she also likes Western style food. She doesn’t know how to ride a bike, which he thinks is a great reason to invite her to ride on the back of his. Her biggest pet peeve is junk mail and she goes out of her way to put all of it through the paper shredder, before recycling it because she’s environmentally conscious.

She’s great at rhythm games but bad at racing games, and when she gets frustrated she’s been known to chuck the controller and stomp away. She doesn’t throw it at him when he’s beating her, but occasionally it looks like she might and he ducks just in case.

He can’t decide if her cutest smile comes when she’s thanking him for helping out with her studying (even though he’s not that great a student himself, he can always make time for her), or when she’s laughing along with the rest of their friends, or when, after a night with practically no sleep, she naps with her head resting on his shoulder. He likes all of them. All of her.

* * *

_danced like sirens - satanick/three psl_

Satanick knows slow dances, of course he does. He knows a lot of things he never really applies, because he’s old as balls.

This means when Three approaches him asking to be taught for the rare occasion where she wants to leave her house, he doesn’t need to review a thing.

“And then you take one step back with your left foot… Err, or was it your right foot?” Satanick tilts his head, thinking. “I’m sure it was one or the other…”

Three groans and lets go of him. “I’m going to look it up on Google.”

“Wait, no! I’m sure I know this, Master!”

* * *

_was it love or fear of the cold - kazuya/retasu psl_

What Retasu expects in every situation is to be shot down, turned away, rejected, etc. There is hardly any time or place at all where she assumes success.

Kazuya is confident, but not overly so. Mostly, he’s optimistic. He still looks like the picture of vanity compared to her.

He lets Retasu make all the moves so that she can see, when she’s expecting failure, that success can come instead of what she was dreading would happen.

Does that work? Who knows: he can’t say for sure yet. But he’s hopeful that it will make a least a small difference.

* * *

_brooding magically - blaze union_

“Okay okay okay.” Eater is trying his best not to glare at the fuzzy creature that just granted him magical powers. “I get it, it’s ‘magical girls’ and not ‘magical boys’, that’s gotta be the standard for a reason. What I don’t get is why. I have. A split personality.”

“Oh, that’s simple!” the thing squeaks. “Only girls can use this magic, and since you’re not one, a girl had to be made to use the power I gave you.”

“Then why didn’t you just pick a girl in the first place?” asks Eater. “Come on.”

The creature looks him up and down and says, “Well, you can’t blame me for thinking you were-”

Eater smacks it on the head and decides he’s going to fight evil himself, without any magical girl powers at all.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's eye gore in 'spared no time in lashing out', everything else should be fine.

_rejoice in what I carry in my heart - forestcovered_

Yonaka accepts, long after Vanitas does, long after Vanitas has already returned to Ventus’s heart, that he has to disappear.

Some things seem impossible, but can be made better if you fight hard enough. Some things are just inevitable. It’s hard to tell the difference.

Ventus remembers a little more about her now and then. First it was her name, then her birthday. Then her love for sweets. It’s only a little, but she still holds out hope that one day he’ll remember everything. Until then, she’s satisfied with this.

She isn’t satisfied with a world where she can’t see Vanitas, where he can’t mess with her braids and she can’t snap at him for it, where she can’t cling to him for support. She doesn’t blame Ventus, because Vanitas used to be a bad person and she understands that, but she can’t be content with the way things are.

It’s on impulse that Yonaka touches two fingers to her lips, then presses them to Ventus’s chest, over his heart.

He looks confused. He’s always been easy to read. “Yonaka, what-”

“I didn’t get to say goodbye properly,” she says, quiet. “I didn’t think I’d have to. So… this is me saying it.”

Ventus is silent for a few moments as she pulls away. “Just now, my heart felt warm. I don’t think that feeling was all mine.”

She thinks she might cry, but instead a soft smile appears on her face. “I’m so glad.”

Some things are inevitable. Sometimes, people go and all you can do is accept that they’re gone. When that happens, a goodbye can make all the difference in the world.

* * *

_spared no time in lashing out - forestcovered_

If Yonaka had only woken up with her knife, things would have been easier. Mogekos, as stupid as they are, don’t keep knives that can kill them in one go around, even if the person who usually wields one is in a coma.

She’d woken up clutching her Wayfinder instead, tight enough to almost hurt. It was as clean as it was when she was in Koriko, standing in marked contrast to the rest of her.

Mogekos don’t clean up after themselves.

When she was able to get out of bed and try to find her bearings, she noticed an unnerving lack of Mogekos around. Normally, there should be plenty of them just going about their business, sick in bed, or just in view somewhere. Where were all of them?

She never thought she’d be worried about not seeing Mogekos, but anything that occupied their attention, if it wasn’t food, was-

“Up and at ‘em already, Yonaka-tan?”

King mogeko was only recognizable because he’d donned a cape. Otherwise, she’d have had no idea which Mogeko was blocking the way when she turned a corner.

She stopped in her tracks. “...mogeko.”

“It was getting pretty boring playing with you while you were asleep,” said mogeko. “Loses the novelty after a while, moge! You awake is much more-”

“Where is everybody?” she asked.

He paused. “Eh? Not even going to freak out?”

“I did that already,” she answered. “You missed it. Where are all the Mogekos?”

“Fiiine, spoil all my fun. We had a couple of intruders and they’re dealing with those,” he said. “Only one of ‘em was a cute girl, but we can’t be too picky.”

Yonaka asked, “Was?”

“Weeell, after Moge-tan gets to ‘em, they’re not as cute anymore. Did you know them?” he asked. “If you come quietly I’ll even let you pay your respects.”

“You’re lying,” she said, slowly. “You didn’t do a thing to them. They’re just fine.”

“You can tell yourself that if you wanna, mogehaha-”

Yonaka’s hand shot forward and grabbed mogeko by the left ear. He struggled, but Yonaka’s grip was tight.

“I have a grip strength of ninety,” she said, voice flat. “Give up. It might make this hurt less.”

“M-make what hurt less-” mogeko screeched as Yonaka pushed open his eyelids with her other hand. “Not the eye, not the eye-!”

Grab. Yank. Snap.

Yonaka discarded his bloody eyeball on the floor, ignoring mogeko’s wailing. For good measure, she stomped on it.

“You’re cruel!”

“Yes. And you’re going to die.”

Waiting for him to bleed out seemed risky: he was too resilient for that. She’d known him to survive a rocket launcher to the face.

Instead, she picked him up and brought her knee up sharply into the small of his back. His cries went silent at the same time as his backbone broke.

She stared at his body for a moment, then dragged it along beside her as she kept searching the castle.

She didn’t know how many doors she opened or how many hallways she crossed. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered until she ran into an Unversed. A Flood, she recalled.

“Which way?” Yonaka asked.

The Flood led her down hallway after hallway, with the sounds of combat getting closer until finally, she spotted her friends. Surrounded by a nearly endless amount of Mogekos amidst almost as many Mogeko corpses, but still fighting. Still in one piece.

She cleared her throat and lifted the body she’d been carrying. All at once, the Mogekos went still and silent.

“I have killed King mogeko, and now I am the king of this castle.” Her voice hadn’t lost its dull quality yet. “Obey me.”

A few Mogekos spoke up. “You’re not even a Mogeko, why should we-”

In response, Unversed sprouted up, large and imposing ones. There hadn’t been many of them before, especially considering that Vanitas had been fighting alongside Ventus and Aqua. They must all have been looking for her.

Aqua and Ventus pointed their Keyblades at the nearby Mogekos, who took a few steps backwards.

“Obey me,” Yonaka repeated.

“...Maybe this isn’t a good idea, moge,” some of the Mogekos mumbled.

“Moge-tan didn’t really like the old king anyway.”

“All hail King Yonaka...”

It wasn’t more than a muttering through the Mogekos, but it at least got the crowd to disperse. Yonaka stared at her friends, dimly aware that she was covered in blood and more disgusting fluids than that and still carrying an eyeless corpse.

“Are you alright?” she asked. She finally dropped mogeko’s body. “He said they’d gotten to you and I- I couldn’t-”

Ventus was the first one to hug her, with the other two quickly following suit. Yonaka mumbled, “Don’t I need a shower first?” before finally starting to cry.

* * *

_tame the ghosts - forestcovered-ish_

Finding a specific person, even with a description, in a group of more than 160 can be difficult. Eraqus searches among the demons, angels, and regular humans until he finds who he thinks is Yonaka Kurai.

Black hair, braided. Black eyes. School uniform, all in place. An unusual amount of darkness, but he was expecting that.

He clears his throat.

“If you are looking for the seducer of your children,” says the person, barely looking at him, “you are seeking the one without the hat.”

“Thank you.” Eraqus continues searching.

Soon enough, he finds someone else: nearly identical in appearance, but with a much more human expression and a more typical balance of light and darkness. No hat. “Yonaka Kurai?”

She turns. “Can I help you?”

“My name is Eraqus.” From the recognition in her eyes at the name, it’s obvious that he’s been mentioned. “I wished to speak with you for a moment about my pupils.”

“Sure- Master Eraqus.” She fidgets with her bow. “What did you want to talk about?”

“What do you think of Ventus?” he asks.

“Ven is amazing.” As she talks, she grows less and less nervous. “He’s always been kind to me, and he’s helped me with a lot of my issues; I wish I could help him more with his. He’s the sweetest person I’ve ever met, and he let me be his Champion. If anyone needs help, he’s there. He’s… amazing.”

Too late, Eraqus thinks. There isn’t much he can do here. “What about Aqua?”

“I really admire Aqua. She’s cool, and talented, and she’s listened to me when I needed that. She’s one of the strongest people I know for getting through everything she’s been through and still being able to smile. I like her, a lot.”

In dangerous territory. It could go either way, at this point. “And Terra?”

Yonaka chuckles. “Terra’s kind of dumb. Sweet guy, and a good friend if you need him. I don’t know him as well as Ven and Aqua.”

Safe… for now. “Thank you. That’s all I needed to know.”

Yonaka tilts her head to one side. “Really? But don’t you know your pupils better than anybody else does? I’ve only known them for a few months or shorter. Why do you need me to tell you what they’re like?”

Eraqus considers deflecting the question, then decides to take the honest route instead. “I was told someone was seducing my pupils, and came to see the truth of the matter.”

It’s impressive how quickly Yonaka turns the precise shade of a tomato. “S-s-seducing?! That’s not true at all! I would never take advantage of them, I care about them and I wouldn’t do that to anybody anyway, whoever told you that is lying and a jerk and a lying jerk!”

“Even if it was you?” he asks.

She huffs and crosses her arms over her chest. “Lord Prosciutto said that? It’s not true. People who steal bodies are also lying jerks.”

He can’t disagree.

* * *

_my heart shall bleed right again - yosuke/yonaka psl_

Naoto had been aware of Yonaka Kurai in a distant sense before they met personally. She had been in court, and the records of that traveled with her when she moved and reached Inaba’s police department.

She had never been seriously considered as a suspect. For one thing, the murders, which the police still believed were separate from the kidnappings, had taken place before she moved to Inaba. For another, her case was open-and-shut justifiable homicide. There was no doubt that her brother had been the one to kill their parents, with his fingerprints all over the gore that counted as evidence, and there was no reason to suspect that he didn’t attempt to kill her as well. Her plea of self-defense held up.

Naoto didn’t have any classes with her, with Yonaka a year ahead of her. They’d only really met after Yonaka caught them entering the TV on Junes’ security tapse, and Yosuke inducted her into the investigation team.

Yosuke had described her to Naoto, when explaining the situation and how he’d gotten caught, as quiet and kind of intense, and not somebody who talked much with the other workers at Junes. Naoto had thought that might have had to do with her situation: trauma like that could make anyone withdraw from others. It wasn’t her place to mention it, however, so she kept quiet.

Yonaka’s Shadow revealed to the team a much worse trauma, but never mentioned the events of the case. Until Yonaka was ready to bring it up herself to the others, though, Naoto didn’t.

Eventually, someone spread a rumor around. Naturally it only had the most incriminating story: that Yonaka had killed someone. Technically true, but murder and self-defense were different animals entirely. Self-defense didn’t mean Yonaka deserved to be stared at and avoided every time she walked down the hall.

“...Hey, Naoto.” Yonaka met her after school, after the rumor had spread for a few days. “There’s something I want to talk to you about. That rumor, that’s been going around...”

“I know.” At Yonaka’s startled look, Naoto added, “I read the court files when you moved into Inaba.”

Yonaka looked away, tightening her fingers in her skirt. “So you know what happened.”

“According to the records, you returned home to find that your brother had killed your parents while you were away. He pursued you after making clear his intent to kill you as well, and you killed him in self-defense. Is that what happened?” Naoto asked.

“More or less. It leaves out some details, but…” Yonaka looked up at her. “You knew all that before we even met, and you never said anything?”

Naoto shook her head. “I didn’t think it was my place to, and there was no reason to bring it up.”

“I killed someone. My brother. There’s not a reason to tell people about that?” asked Yonaka, wide-eyed and incredulous.

“Yonaka…” Naoto set her hand on Yonaka’s shoulder. “You’re not a bad person because of this. I believe that you wouldn’t have done it had there been any other way to protect yourself.”

She felt Yonaka start to tremble underneath her hand. “But I… how can you just…?”

“At first it was because I didn’t know you well enough to make assumptions,” Naoto replied. “Now it’s because we’re friends, so I trust you.”

Sniffling, Yonaka gave her a shaky smile. Then she suddenly had an armful of Yonaka hugging her. “...Thank you. I’m glad that we’re friends.”

A little awkward, but no less heartfelt, Naoto returned her hug. “I feel the same way.”

* * *

_this new skin- yosuke/yonaka psl_

Even Yosuke knows, given all the information he has about Yonaka’s history, that asking if she’s ever done any of this before is a bad idea. ‘This’ is soft kissing in his room, turning more heated until Yonaka has him pressed back against the wall and both of them are panting for breath.

So Yonaka volunteers the information for him. “I’ve only kind of done this before,” she says, slowly. “I don’t know if it even counts with a Mogeko, since… they’re kind of…” She gestures, showing a space of about eight centimeters between her fingers. “Approximate dick size.”

That would be funny if the idea of Yonaka having even seen one of their dicks, much less having had sex with one, wasn’t distressing to him. He flounders for an reply, something like ‘I’m sorry’ or ‘are you okay’.

“It’s alright,” she says, before he can come up with anything sensitive. “I did that by my own choice, more or less. Anyway, I just wanted you to know in advance that I might not be good at anything.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll probably be worse,” he says. He wouldn’t admit it to anyone else, but with her, like this, he can’t be anything but honest about his total lack of experience.

“That’s fine,” she replies, a smile breaking out over her face. “I wouldn’t care, I’m happy because it’s with you.”

Yosuke has the best girlfriend in the world.

It’s after more kissing and Yonaka’s hands wandering down from his chest to rub him through his pants that she asks, “Um, I don’t have a condom with me, do you?”

“Shoot, I don’t.” He hadn’t expected this tonight.

“Would you settle for letting me use my mouth?” she asks, like she actually believes that there’s a possibility of him saying no to that.

In reality, he turns bright red just at the thought of it. “S-sure! If you want, I mean, you don’t have to...”

She’s already getting his pants off of him. Underwear goes next, and he braces himself against the wall so that he doesn’t fall over when she starts to stroke him directly. It’s completely different from doing it to himself. Yonaka’s hands are softer, and her face is set in a focused expression, concentrating on nothing else but giving him pleasure.

He’s fully hard even before she kneels down before him. The first tentative lick makes him jolt, and she pulls back to look up at him through her lashes. “Try to hold still.”

“Y-yeah, sorry.” He’s embarrassed about reacting so intensely just to that, and he also doesn’t want to smack her in the face. So he tries to keep still, even though it’s incredibly difficult to focus on anything when she goes back to licking up and down. When she takes the head into her mouth and starts to suck, it’s hard for him to even think about anything besides how good it feels.

She’s slow about taking more of him in, but gradually more of him is surrounded by that wet heat and he can’t hold back his moans. He runs his fingers through her hair, trying not to tug on her head, and she seems to like that because she makes a little pleased sound around him.

He comes too quickly; he’d meant to warn her, really he did, but all he can get out is a call of her name before he’s spilling inside of her mouth. He can feel her swallowing all of it before she pulls off of him and looks up.

“Okay?” she asks, licking her lips. It takes him a few seconds to realize that she’s asking about what she just did, as if there was any situation in which he would complain about getting an orgasm from her.

“Amazing,” he says, somewhat weakly as he catches his breath. “Gimme a second.”

He doesn’t have any idea what he’s doing when he leads her over to his bed. She undoes her shirt for him first and he gets the hint. He kisses and sucks on her breasts until she’s gasping, “Yosuke, don’t tease so much,” and reaching for her skirt.

She keeps the thigh-highs on, but the skirt goes and the cute pink panties go after it. When he strokes the outside of her folds she gasps, and when he starts spreading them apart her whole body shakes.

That she tastes better than he probably does is an idle thought he has. That she’s loud is another one, with her calling his name intermingled with “please, there, right there,” and wordless groans. She spreads her legs wider for him, and when he licks her clit she moans so loudly that he’s glad nobody’s in the house to overhear. She tugs on his hair, and it hurts a little but he doesn’t mind.

She doesn’t warn him when she’s about to come, but her toes curl and her fingers clench tightly in his hair for a few moments before relaxing completely. She takes a few deep breaths before saying, “You can stop now.”

He pulls back. She looks completely exhausted and utterly beautiful, and he couldn’t possibly resist the urge to snuggle beside her on the bed. “Okay?” he asks, with a grin.

She kisses him. He figures that’s a good answer.

* * *

_sold and bought - yosuke/yonaka psl_

It had been Yonaka’s idea to give Souji going-away presents, although their other friends probably would have ended up with their own gifts. They just wouldn’t have given them together.

Yonaka gives her own present last, a neatly wrapped box with a bow. After carefully unwrapping it, Souji finds…

“A video camera and headset?” Not what he’d been expecting, though he’d never really figured what to expect from her. It looks like it’s excellent quality.

“For your computer. I got Yosuke one of these yesterday, so the moment you get to your new house, I expect you to Skype him.” Yonaka folds her arms, and he can tell she’s serious. Yosuke looks mildly embarrassed but doesn’t make any arguments towards this plan.

“Thanks, Yonaka. But what about Skyping you?” he asks.

“I don’t want to spend that much money on myself,” she replies. “So I’ll just wave from the background if I’m visiting.”

“Don’t let me interrupt you two,” he says, and then realizes what that sounds like when Yosuke goes crimson and Yonaka fumbles over her next reply. “I mean-”

“N-no offense,” she says, “but I don’t think he’d pick up, even for you.”

* * *

_sold our clothes to the state - yosuke/yonaka psl_

Moge-ko’s tactics are smarter than that of a normal Mogeko. She fights with her back to a wall. This wouldn’t be such a problem if it weren’t for her impenetrable shield that keeps attacks from the front from laying a scratch on her.

Yosuke is getting frustrated. If they’d brought Naoto, maybe her almighty spells would be able to break the barrier, but he, Yonaka, and Chie don’t have those kinds of spells, and Souji only has a few. If they could surround her, then maybe…

He sees Yonaka lean toward Chie and whisper something in her ear. Chie nods and whispers to Souji, who gives a nod back. What are they talking about? It’s not like Yonaka to leave him out like this-

Yonaka starts backing away, and Moge-ko cackles. “Are you gonna run, Yonaka-tan? Come back and play with Moge-ko~ Love you to bits and pieces!”

This is when Yonaka, looking as serious and determined as ever, lifts her skirt.

The sight of smooth bare legs and pink panties stuns Yosuke. It does not stun Moge-ko, who rushes towards her, and only Ratri’s appearance between them keeps her from tearing into her.

When Yosuke shakes himself out of his stupor, at least a second after Yonaka has dropped her skirt hem again, he realizes that Chie and Souji have moved to the other side of Moge-ko, and that they have her flanked now.

“Earth to Yosuke,” Yonaka calls. “We still have a fight here?”

“R-right, yeah!”

The fight is important, so it’s only after the fight is over that Yosuke complains, “Why didn’t you tell me you were gonna... do that?”

Chie answers first. “There was no way you’d have been able to move quickly enough even if we’d told you.”

“You’d probably have had a problem with it, and given it away,” says Yonaka. “And even if you didn’t you’d still stare.”

Souji nods, which is the real stinger. Souji’s a guy, how can he not look… not that he wants other guys to be looking!

“Well excuse me for looking at my girlfriend flipping her skirt.” Yosuke folds his arms and huffs.

Yonaka sighs and pats his shoulder. “You can flip my skirt later, in private.”

* * *

_casts no more spells - wadanohara and the great blue sea_

Chlomaki takes very few matters seriously, and sex isn’t one of them. If you can’t laugh at yourself when your partner’s tail twitches involuntarily and smacks you in the face, you need to lighten up.

Lobco needs to lighten up, too. A string of apologies leaves her mouth, and cuts off abruptly when Chlomaki slides her hands up and down her tail. It’s more sensitive than it looks: not as sensitive as her antennae, of course, but as something people rarely touch, the nerves there light afire at the contact.

“Lady Chlomaki…” Lobco quivers. Her tail’s too big for Chlomaki to do much with it other than rub it, it definitely won’t fit anywhere, but she goes at that with a level of sheer enthusiasm that has Lobco clinging to the sheets with one hand and reaching for Chlomaki’s tail with the other.

Chlomaki’s tail is much more delicate and soft, and petting it gently makes her purr.

Lobco takes everything seriously, including sex and whatever sounds she can get Chlomaki to make during it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In 'ditch familiarity', Teufel = Dialo and Kai = Riku - the randomizer prompts should be self-explanatory.

_a serpent near him - dramadramaduck_

Fear is not something that Cherryblod feels often. He doesn’t remember ever experiencing it as intensely as he is now.

He and Doloz are trading shifts protecting the door of their home from red sea intruders. He patches himself up, speaking soothingly to four children who are trembling against the back wall. The book that he uses to connect to the community is open, and he’s just about to ask for some assistance when he sees Sal through the window.

At least, he looks like Sal at first glance. He’s a bit too bloody and has too many limbs. After tying the knot on his bandage, Cherryblod joins Doloz outside.

It’s not smart. Sal gloats a little over being the red sea’s ambassador, then crushes something in the water and leaves the two of them poisoned. He laughs at them, the two of them coughing and barely able to stand straight, with fish from the sea of death closing in on them-

-and then, everything seems to go back to normal. The sea is blue, and the sealed up fish are gone. Cherryblod feels fine.

He knows this isn’t a dream, because Sal is still there, albeit a normal-looking Sal, and he knows Sal knows because the moment he opens his mouth to speak, Sal flees.

After comforting the children still hiding in the back of his house, Cherryblod grabs his book and heads to the castle. If the princess doesn’t remember, he’ll have a recording, albeit a poor quality one.

Princess Uomi remembers, so that doesn’t come into play. What he does have to explain is why the Cast Pearl broke suddenly and then fixed itself, to which Cherryblod’s reply is ‘probably a virus, it just sort of happens’. Not the most satisfying of answers, he realizes, but it’s the best he has.

He shares what Sal did with her and she nods. Sal hasn’t been seen since that incident, and she’d thought it was strange. She gives Cherryblod blanket permission to stop him by any means, should they encounter each other again.

It takes weeks of searching, but Cherryblod finds Sal. Sal says something about being hasty. Cherryblod snaps his neck, and it makes a satisfying sound.

Lobco returns home to a peaceful, albeit a bit shaken, sea.

* * *

_ditch familiarity - forestcovered_

Chelan is used to having, her name is Teufel now, interpret for her. It’s a little awkward, but she’s shy about her voice, so it’d be awkward either way.

She’s glad to get the chance to talk to Teufel’s friends. Kai asks how she does it, and Teufel gives her usual answer: “years of experience, body language, and a bit of mind reading.” Chelan chirps in agreement.

Teufel seems comfortable around Kai, enough to smile honestly and relax a bit. He’s very cute, too, so Chelan puts on her best innocent face and asks if maybe Teufel has a crush on him?

Teufel goes bright red in an instant and splutters. “I- It’s not like that- Why would you say that in front of him, I’m not interpreting that!” She hides her face in her hands, while Chelan giggles and Kai looks confused.

Chelan pats her shoulder. It’s alright if she does, he seems like a very nice boy. Chelan would give her blessing.

Teufel’s answer is muffled by her hands, but sounds like, “I can’t deal with you.”

Kai looks between the two of them, then asks Chelan, “What on earth did you say to her?”

Chelan shrugs. Nothing.

* * *

_randomizer randomizer you're a randomizer baby - forestcovered_

**Aya Shameimaru / Dantalion / late night/early morning**

It is two in the morning, and Goetia is awake and hungry.

He could make something to eat in his room, but then he’d no doubt wake at least one of his roommates, so instead he slips as silently as he can out of the room and downstairs. On the way to the kitchen, he bumps into someone.

“What are you doing here?” he asks, yawning.

Quote smiles at him, the smile of those plotting something nefarious. He’s seen it on many people before. “Looking for my next scoop.”

“Your next…?”

“The middle of the night is a classic time to be engaging in illicit affairs, stealing company supplies, running drug rings…” She lists off a dozen other shady dealings before Goetia raises his hand.

“You can write a news story about it if you insist, but let me get into the kitchen so I can have a snack,” he says, yawning.

She steps aside.

**Oerba Dia Vanille / Minato Arisato / injuries**

Jeong can heal himself. He’s a Wild Card, a jack of all trades, so there isn’t a lot he can’t do, at least some of the time.

So there’s really no reason Pearl needs to worry about him or heal him herself, but she insists.

“All done,” she announces, and he checks where the wound had been. Good as new.

“I could have done that.” He doesn’t say it to denounce her abilities, it’s more of a question: even if it had been her mistake that had gotten him injured, he’s fine fixing himself up, so…?

She shakes her head. “If you mess something up, you’ve got to make it right. Especially with people. Even if it’s just a scratch.”

He supposes that’s one way to think about it. “...Thanks.”

**Cheria Barnes / Minako Arisato / after midnight**

Aki is the kind of girl who has energy to spare, Yua thinks. She makes you a little less tired just with her effervescent personality.

That’s why it takes her a while to realize that their board game party has gone on past midnight.

“This was fun, but I have work in the morning,” she says, starting to stand up.

Aki looks at her with big, pleading eyes. “We’re almost done with this round! Five minutes won’t make a difference either way.”

“...Well…”

“Pretty please? You’re in first place right now.”

Yua sits back down. But it has nothing to do winning, she says to herself. She just doesn’t want to leave the game unfinished.

**Kachessa Crim / Yukari Takeba / family**

Hane isn’t married. Hane really has no interest in being married right now: she’s young, she’s balancing a career with her college, romance isn’t something she’s searching for. It would be nice, if it came along, but that’s all.

Queen is married twice.

“At the same time,” she admits, with some reluctance. “But the first one doesn’t count, truly. It wasn’t my decision, but my family’s.”

Hane thinks of her own family, particularly her mother, who placed her own pain over the needs of her daughter, and decides not to assume ‘they wanted what was best for her’. Instead she says, “I’m glad you found someone yourself.”

Queen smiles. “Yes, The difference is worlds apart.”

**Tamaki Suoh / Baren Kumou / late night/early morning**

How can one person possibly have this much energy this early in the morning?

Koi works as a bouncer specifically so he can sleep as late as possible, but on days when the Witch has some task in mind for all of them, she’ll wake them all up with an announcement that’s heard throughout the employee’s quarters, and his sleep will be ruined.

Right now he’s staring across the table at Jules, who is positively sparkling, and this is before their breakfast has even arrived.

“I’m looking forward to today’s assignment, participating in everything is the best way to get the real experience of an exotic tourist island! What do you think?” Jules asks.

Koi smiles as brightly as he can. “Be quiet until after I’ve had food.” Or forever.

**Merciless / Yoshiya 'Joshua' Kiryu / family**

The subject is family, which Yoshi is thankful for. He’s not as weirded out by Killer’s constant talk of death as some people are, being dead already, but the blood and such gets into icky territory. It’s nice that those on the UG don’t bleed.

“I regularly visit my family,” Killer says. “It is a tradition to welcome agents of death into the village’s midst, to feed them, and then to send them on their way again so that they may do their duty.”

Yoshi nods along to pretend that he’s paying attention.

“And you?” asks Killer. “Do you visit your family?”

“I’m dead,” he says.

She pauses, waiting for some continued explanation, before asking, “Why should that be of consequence? At home, we seat our dead with the living at family meals.”

“So the corpses are…?”

She nods.

“Ew.”

**Yukari Takeba / Minato Arisato / home**

Home is better than Koriko, for Hane. There’s no doubt about that. Home doesn’t have the threat of being eaten if she ticks off a customer. She’s her own person at home, with her own name, not just whatever a Witch decided was fitting. She can make her own choices, move anywhere in the world she wants.

There’s absolutely no question. Home is where Hane wants to be. She’s going home as soon as she can pay off her debt.

But.

At home Jeong is dead.

If a tiny part of her thinks that maybe, staying here wouldn’t be so bad, she has to squash it. For her own sake.

**Orihime Inoue / Baren Kumou / cooking**

Koi likes food. He especially likes food that other people make for him. He is lazy, he’ll be the first to admit it, and he doesn’t want to put forth any effort into making the good food that he eats.

So if Leona wants him to be her taste tester, why not? He doesn’t have to do any work, he’ll get free food, and her cooking can’t be that bad-

“First up, avocado pineapple chicken curry!” she announces from the kitchen. “Freshly made! I put lots of butter in this time!”

...It could absolutely be that bad. Or that weird.

**Haruka Nanase / Riku / after midnight**

After night falls is when the monsters come out.

Kai knows that’s not true here. Night isn’t much more dangerous on Koriko than daytime is. But in Animus, it was always unwise to be out of your rooms at night unless you were prepared, or you could die. Die for a day or so, anyway.

But that doesn’t mean that he isn’t wary about stepping out of his room at night, though he knows the employee’s quarters should be fine.

There’s another person sitting in the lobby whose eyes keep darting around, the same as his do. Kai wouldn’t ask about it, it’s personal, so all he says is, “We’re safe in here.”

Nana doesn’t relax. “...Hard habit to break,” he says.

“Yeah. I know.”

**Natsuru Senou / Aya Shameimaru / alone together**

Aneko doesn’t have any issues with reporters. She’s sort of like an idol here, so she’s used to them, and there doesn’t seem to be much paparazzi on Koriko.

Quote is different.

“Where were you before Koriko? Did you have a singing career there? Who did you sing with, and what were the most troublesome parts of working with them?” she asks, pen poised to take notes.

Aneko pauses. “Why do you want to know the last question?”

“Just to get all the details! There’s no story in just the bare-bones stuff, any reporter can get that. I want to know every juicy tidbit so my readers will be entertained!” Quote says, grinning.

“Why don’t you ask about the parts of working with them I liked?” Aneko asks.

The grin disappears off Quote’s face. “Boooring.”

**Shizuo Heiwajima / Manami Sangaku / late night/early morning**

Hane sleeps in. Nodoka knows this because they’re roommates, and every time Nodoka wakes up and gets going, Hane is still asleep.

Hane is usually asleep already when Nodoka comes in to go to bed, also. In fact, Nodoka can hardly remember a time when Hane’s been in the room and not asleep.

It’s not something he cares about really, because Hane isn’t somebody he knows very well. They’re roommates, but if he wants to sleep the day away, then he isn’t bugging Nodoka, and that’s great.

The only thing is that he doesn’t seem to be awake and in the room often enough to clean his part of the room. And that sort of irritates Nodoka, because he shouldn’t have to shove Hane’s sprawl of stuff away from his own sleeping area.

Don’t get peeved about it. Don’t get annoyed about it. Don’t get worked up about it, it’s nothing to get pissed off over…

He needs a smoke.

**Natsuru Senou / Makoto Tachibana / admiration**

It’s weird to admire a guy’s body-

Well, no, it’s not weird to admire a guy’s body, because Shoko has a very nice body that any girl would swoon over. But it’s weird to think ‘I wish I had muscles like that’ when you’re a girl with a different kind of attractive body entirely.

Shoko doesn’t seem to notice the looks he gets when he’s just out of the water and shirtless. Aneko admires him for that, too. Being able not to realize that people are interested in you and your looks is something she misses, a lot.

It’s not weird at all to admire someone for being sweet, gentle, and generous with his time and support. Aneko figures she could maybe cop to that one, if she had to.

**Ventus / Aya Shameimaru / crossdressing**

“You look fantastic,” Quote says, with a wide smile. If Yuu knew better, he’d be suspicious of that kind of smile.

Instead, he just tugs at his skirt. “Are you sure this is a good birthday present? I mean, this doesn’t fit me right…”

“It’s just a little uncomfortable because it’s not tailored to your body shape,” she says. “Your girlfriend will love it. Ready to go surprise her?”

“...I’m ready.” There’s still doubt showing in Yuu’s expression, but he buckles up his courage and puts on a brave face.

Quote snaps a picture of him on his way out.

**Chiyo Sakura / Haruka Nanase / domesticity**

Laundry is something everyone has to do. Even in a world of magic far beyond the likes of which Shiro has ever seen, you still have to wash your clothes. And, unfortunately, there are no washing machines here.

“Don’t you think they should have some kind of spell to wash clothes?” she asks the person standing next to her as she wrings out her socks..

“It would make sense,” Nana says. “And they should be done instantly instead of having to dry.”

“Right! I mean, what good is magic if you have to wait forever to get your clothes cleaned?” she asks. “There has to be some magic for it!”

He thinks about this a moment. “If there was a spell, would we be able to do it?”

“...Probably not.”

**Minako Arisato / Eater / admiration**

Aki has many fine weapons. She’s skilled with swords, bows, spears, and brass knuckles. She’s even wielded a bus stop sign, in a pinch.

But she can safely say she’s never bashed somebody’s face in with a harp.

“Hey, Drinker?” she asks one night. “Can you teach me to use a harp?”

“You mean like I use it, or like she does?” he asks. “‘Cause they’re a whole lot different.”

“Like you use it, to beat people up,” she answers. “Please?”

His answer is immediate: “No way.” She starts to pout, but he goes on. “You’d probably get better at it than me and then I couldn’t say I was the best harp fighter anywhere anymore. So nah.”

Well, it was worth a try. That cool weapon will have to remain in Drinker’s hands alone.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only Forest Covered name notes today are that 'Yoshi' = Joshua. Also there's a lot of porn today.

_what ghosts there do remain - forestcovered_

“So you’re dead, huh.” Yonaka is surprised, but she doesn’t doubt what he says is true: she’s heard far stranger things on Koriko.

Yoshi cracks a smirk. “If you’d like me to start floating, or turn invisible-”

“Not necessary, but thanks for the offer.” She doesn’t think he was serious. “So, being dead… I’d ask what that’s like, but it probably wouldn’t be the same on my world anyway.”

He holds a hand over his heart. “You don’t care about what it’s like to be me unless it applies to some other dead person? Truly, I’m hurt. Amaya, I thought we were friends.”

Yeah, Yoshi’s definitely annoying enough to be a ghost. Yonaka sighs. “You got me, I don’t care about you at all. ...Well, you seem like you’re doing okay enough, I just worry about Brother sometimes. Especially since it’s my fault he’s dead.”

He raises an eyebrow and opens his mouth.

“In the ‘I stabbed him and he stopped being alive’ sense of ‘my fault’,” she says, before he can get the wrong idea. “I guess it’s not normal to worry about how someone you killed is doing, but…”

Yoshi shrugs, and after a moment says, “I’ve met more than a few other dead people, and plenty of them were murder victims. Some of them were just barely holding themselves together with nothing but a desire for revenge, and some of them who accepted their fate were doing better. You don’t exactly seem like the kind of person I could base my whole existence on getting vengeance on. You’re too, what’s the word, ineffectual? A tiny bit pathetic?”

So, working that one out… if things worked at all like in Yoshi’s world, then Shinya was at least not doing as badly as he could be?

It’s a small comfort and it’s couched in an insult, but all the same, it makes Yonaka’s face light up in a grin. “Thank you.”

“Not to mention a little strange,” he says. For some reason, she thinks his smile is more genuine.

* * *

_stuck to your face tonight - forestcovered_

Aqua is beautiful. Yonaka knows this, has known it since they first met and feels it more strongly every time she smiles, but it’s especially pronounced like this, with her covered by nothing but a thin bedsheet and a rising blush on her skin.

Yonaka is plain. Her hair is black, her eyes are too dark to be compared to gems of any kind, and the only notable thing about her appearance is the way she wears her hair. Even that’s more unusual than outright pretty. She’s a little self-conscious about it when she pulls the last of her clothes off, but Aqua’s way too polite to say anything about-

“You’re beautiful,” Aqua says, reaching out to gently stroke down her shoulder.

Yonaka’s cheeks, which had already been starting to redden, catch fire in an instant and she stammers her reply. “What, that’s, but you’re, you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen!”

Now it’s Aqua’s turn to startle. “But that’s you!”

“No, it’s you.” Yonaka crosses her arms, realizes that she’s doing that in a way that emphasizes her breasts, and uncrosses them quickly.

After a moment, Aqua says with a small smile, “Let’s agree to disagree.”

Yonaka doesn’t think she’ll ever change her mind no matter what Aqua says. She nods, and leans in to kiss her again.

Aqua is gorgeous. Her skin is soft, her curves gentle, and her body warm against Yonaka’s. She makes the sweetest sounds when Yonaka starts to explore her body, hands and lips searching skin for the first time, and Yonaka can think of no painting, no statue, no art in all the worlds she knows that compares in beauty to this experience she is lucky enough to be a part of.

* * *

_with dirty hands - forestcovered_

Dialo’s hot spots, as Arata has determined from extended study, are as follows:

The areas around her horns, though the horns themselves don’t feel much at all. (“Arata, what are you- mm…”)

Her neck. Attack with kisses. (“R-really, I’m trying to make-”)

Her breasts. Gentle rubbing is preferred to wild groping. (“Ah… at least let me set the whisk down.”)

At this point, let her set the whisk down, or she will drop it on the floor and later get huffy about it.

Her tail, especially the base of it near her spine. (“Mm… Keep doing that...”)

Her thighs, just above her stockings. Absolutely keep the stockings on. (“Y-you’re not even going to let me get to a bed, are you? I cook in here-”)

Now, after that-

(“Oh… oh, do it harder, Arata…!”)

You can take it from there.

* * *

_for we are bound in symmetry - forestcovered_

The Eaters are always distinguishable in bed, even without the consistency of one being day and the other being night.

She makes Natsuru feel like a princess, wooed and spoiled rotten. She’s gentle, slow and lingering, working Natsuru up bit by bit until she finally comes undone. She likes the same treatment done to her, and Natsuru is happy to oblige her: even if Natsuru has less experience, Eater tells her that she makes up for it with sincerity.

He’s the adventurous one, who wants to try anything that looks fun, from new positions to new kinks: of course, he respects whenever she says she doesn’t want to try something and doesn’t push for it. He’s quicker about it, going at whatever he does with great gusto, and without a single ounce of shame over being loud in bed. He’s better at finding her hot spots than Natsuru is on him, but Eater says she makes up for it with enthusiasm.

Both of them put all their energy and focus into being with her, and though they’re wildly different in their ways of going about it, she couldn’t pick one over the other. It’s lucky that she’ll never have to.

* * *

_the gorgeous mess of your face - dramadramaduck_

Issei doesn’t really like wearing dresses, but after a while he’s come to not exactly dislike them either. He’s too used to being made to wear them to feel as vehemently as he did before.

And Retasu, Retasu turns an even brighter red than normal every time he wears one, so he can only assume that means she likes them. It’s hard to tell with Retasu sometimes, because she doesn’t like to talk earnestly about such things.

Not that Issei likes to talk about them much either, but…

Maids are somewhat cute, he has to admit, checking that the skirt isn’t too tight. Retasu likes cute things and Retasu likes him, so naturally-

Naturally she drops something on the floor when she enters the room and sees him like that.

After many apologies, cleaning up the mess, explaining exactly why he’s like that and no, it isn’t a virus this time, they’ve ended up like this: Retasu clinging to his shoulders as he moves inside of her. The skirt had to be pulled down, not to mention the underwear, but the garters and the rest are still on, and every time she can open her eyes and get a look at him she mewls and shuts her eyes again.

It feels kind of counterproductive, and also the hairpiece keeps slipping off with his thrusts, but if she likes it even a little, it was worth the purchase and the embarrassment.

* * *

_irascible blackguard - satanick/valmont psl_

“You know, Valmont,” says Satanick, “you really are lazy in bed. You’d be a disappointing partner for anyone else.”

Valmont gawks at him. Where did this come from, and how dare he, of all people- “Have you considered that perhaps it’s because I hate you, and I have no interest in your pleasure whatsoever?”

“I thought of that!” says Satanick with a cheerful smile. “But that’s not it. You’d feel better too if you put more energy into it, but you do the least amount of work possible. You’re laaazy~ Lazy on top of being rude.”

It’s true that Valmont doesn’t expend a lot of effort with Satanick, preferring instead to hope it’ll be over as soon as possible… But things would be different with someone he actually liked, wouldn’t they?

Satanick drapes an arm over him. “So I thought you could top tonight!”

“...What.”

“It’ll be good practice for if you ever sleep with someone else who doesn’t have as low standards as I do, see. Come on, it’ll be fun!” When Valmont continues to stare at him like he’s lost his mind, as if he ever had one in the first place, Satanick clears his throat. “Alright, let me rephrase that so it doesn’t sound like a suggestion. You’re topping tonight.”

There’s no way Satanick can make him do this. “I refu-”

“Or you’re being topped by one of my tentacled pets. I haven’t brought them out in a while, and they get so bored, you know~”

Valmont gulps. “I’ll… think about it.”

* * *

_cross your fingers hold your toes - tsumuri/lapis psl_

Sex is sex and violence is violence, and Tsumuri thinks he’s good at both. Especially if he can mix the two, but Lapis isn’t interested in that, so he indulges her.

He sucks on her toes and listens to her breath hitch. He kisses her thighs and she gasps. Dipping his tongue into her belly button makes her moan, and by the time he reaches her lips, she’s quivering.

“Tsumuri,” she says, between kisses. “Stop.”

He stops, because she is his girlfriend, and also because he figures he knows what she wants to say. “Ye~es?”

“Don’t tease me anymore,” she says, and if her face could turn more red it would. “Just hurry, already...”

“Mm, what’s the word?” he asks.

She looks down. “Please.”

He grins, full of sharp teeth. “What are the other words?”

She looks up at him, puzzled for a moment before she remembers. “I’ll untie you now.”

As she works on the ropes, he says, “I told you I could make you beg with six hands tied behind my back.”

* * *

_there is joy endowed - mogebox_

Kcalb has more experience than Lobco here, because Kcalb has more experience than her with practically everything, but the difference isn’t as significant as you’d think.

Her Etihw has always favored a more masculine form, for example, and before that Kcalb wasn’t very interested in sex. So while she’s done this a few times over the years, she isn’t actually a sex god. Or sex devilless: that title would probably go to Satanica.

Let’s not think about Satanica when Lobco is on the bed in front of Kcalb with her legs spread, trembling at the lightest touch. Instead Kcalb leans in and licks, a soft, long stripe, and Lobco covers her mouth.

That won’t do. Kcalb lifts her face. “I need you not to muffle yourself,” she says, managing to get it out without stammering somehow. “I don’t know how to do this very well, so I need to know wh-what you like.” And there’s the stammer again.

Lobco turns more red, but nods, and clutches onto the bedsheets again. Kcalb lowers her head and begins to gently drag her tongue in circles, listening to Lobco’s voice, ranging in volume from barely audible whimpers to loud moans of “Kcalb…” Those, she takes as the best places to focus on.

She knows she’s reached a sensitive point when Lobco grabs onto one of her horns. She can’t feel it much, so she doesn’t mind the tight grip and considers it encouraging. She rubs her thumb over that spot as she continues licking elsewhere and listens to Lobco groan.

Lobco pulls her towards her body by the horn. She probably doesn’t know she’s even doing it. Kcalb could definitely resist, but she lets her direct her motions. Lobco will always know her own body better than Kcalb ever will, and Kcalb’s not out to demonstrate her own talent: she just wants to make Lobco feel good.

Lobco’s a screamer. That’s very complimentary. And Kcalb’s a cuddler at heart, so she makes to curl up with Lobco before she pushes her over and goes to return the favor.

* * *

_the plague of loving things - satanica/three psl_

Satanica is interested in sex; it would be fair to say that Satanica loves sex. Three, when she’s not paying more attention to her dolls or to sleeping, is fairly ambivalent about it.

“Master,” Satanica whines, curled up in bed around her, “won’t you please please just do it this once? I won’t ask again for a week!”

“You said that two days ago,” says Three.

“Did I? I lost track of time.” Satanica rubs her face against her cheek. “Please? Please please please?”

“You can go out and do it with someone else,” says Three, yawning. “You have my permission.”

That startles Satanica into silence for a few moments. Just when Three is about to fall asleep, Satanica says, “But Master, I don’t just want to have sex. I want to have sex with you.”

“...Really?” It’s a little surprising to Three.

“Of course! I would’ve had sex with other people without your permission-”

It’s not surprising at all.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forest Covered name notes: Shiro = Chiyo Sakura.

_the world is a hundred to one - forestcovered_

Shiro’s dreams tend toward either the surreal or the mundane, with no in between. Either she’s talking to penguins or she’s panicking because she forgot to do her homework for all her classes.

She’s not too worried about other people appearing in her dreams as she drifts off to sleep tonight. Koriko is weird that way, but the worst that could happen is she might have an embarrassing dream about Nozaki, she would never live that down-

This is not her dream. She knows this right away, because Shiro is not that familiar with the color of blood.

Of course, she’s seen blood before, here and again a cut or a scrape that was fixed up with nothing more than some disinfectant and a bandage. She’s seen blood in movies, though those aren’t the type of movies she goes to watch of her own volition.

But pools of it on the ground are not something Shiro has actually seen, and yet, it feels real enough that it’s something the dreamer must know intimately.

She doesn’t know who it could possibly belong to, this castle dotted with blood, but she’s not expecting Yonaka to be the one to suddenly grab her hand. She yelps. “Y-Yonaka, what’s this-”

“I have nightmares,” says Yonaka, as if that explained everything. Her face is steely calm. “How good are you at running?”

Shiro gulps. “Um… not very…”

“I’ll carry you.” Yonaka sets her other hand on Shiro’s shoulder. “Shiro, the last thing I want is to hurt you. You’re way too innocent to be in a place like this, even in a dream.”

“Y-you’re scaring me… it’s just a dream, right?” Shiro asks, taking a look around. Nothing but some stuffed yellow cats over in one corner of the room. “There’s nothing to worry about, right?”

Yonaka looks at her, then looks back at the cats. Shiro naturally follows her gaze. ...Had there been that many of them a second ago?

“Mogegege!” call the cats, and stampede.

In an instant, Yonaka scoops Shiro up in her arms and starts running. It would be nice if they weren’t being chased by a horde of stuffed animals: as it is, Shiro squeaks and clings to Yonaka’s shoulders. “When we wake up please explain to me what’s going on!”

“You don’t want to know!” Yonaka answers, not slowing down. “You’re a pure and innocent flower and there’s no way I’m letting anything bad happen to you!”

This is definitely the most surreal dream Shiro has ever had. While stuffed animals behind them shout lewd things about high school girls, she shuts her eyes and hopes to wake up soon.

They run for a long time before Yonaka ducks into a side room. She sets Shiro down and quickly locks the door. The sound of running creatures outside moves past them, and fades into nothing.

“I’m so sorry,” Yonaka says. “I really didn’t want you to see any of this.”

“Yonaka,” says Shiro, slowly, “how much of this is real?”

A sigh as Yonaka slumps to the floor. “Pretty much all of it.”

“The creatures-”

“Mogekos. They’re real.”

“The castle-”

“Mogeko Castle. Real.”

“The blood?”

“Real.”

“Being chased by a giant horde?!”

“Happened a bunch of times.”

Shiro stares at Yonaka in shock for a few moments, then does the only thing she can do. She sits down and hugs her tightly.

The weirdest part of this dream yet is Yonaka clinging to her like she’s the only bastion of sanity and kindness in a cruel, cruel world. Shiro is starting to think that that’s exactly what she is.

* * *

_there is none to harm - yosuke/yonaka psl_

It’s embarrassing for Kanji to have Yonaka in his room, even if his mother is just downstairs and he knows Yonaka’s dating Yosuke already. It doesn’t help that Yonaka mentioned she needed ‘personal advice from a guy’ and Kanji was the only one who could help her.

“So… make yourself at home, and everything,” he says, feeling awkward while the two of them sit on the floor. “You sure Souji-senpai wouldn’t be a better guy to ask?”

Yonaka’s already shaking her head. “Souji reminds me too much of my brother. It’d be really weird to ask him about this kind of thing.”

Kanji doesn’t know much about Yonaka’s brother, but what he does know doesn’t give him a high opinion of the guy. “What about Yos-”

“Absolutely no way. And I’m not asking Teddie about it.”

He wasn’t going to suggest Teddie in the first place. “Alright. Lay it on me.”

Yonaka nods, and takes a deep breath with a serious expression on her face. Kanji still doesn’t know what she’s going to talk about, but he definitely isn’t expecting, “So if you were dating a girl…”

“Wait, it’s love advice?” he asks, feeling his face heat up already. “I ain’t equipped to deal with that kind of question!”

“You’re the only guy I trust enough to talk about this with.” Yonaka wrings her hands. “Please help me, Kanji.”

“...I’ll give it my best shot.” But he’s a lot more unsure about this than he was a second ago.

“If you were dating a girl,” says Yonaka, “and you’d been dating her for a while before you found out that she wasn’t… pure, would that bother you?”

“Uh.” There’s no way he’s being asked this by Yonaka, right? Kanji stares in stupefied silence.

Yonaka sighs and rephrases herself. “Do guys really care if their girlfriends are virgins or not?”

Yeah. Definitely being asked this by Yonaka. Kanji turns bright red and tries to put his thoughts together before he says something stupid. Even he knows, despite how bluntly Yonaka is going about this, that it’s a delicate subject. “Well… The way I figure it is that it’s none of my business what she did or didn’t do before we got together.”

“So you wouldn’t want her to tell you at all?” Yonaka asks, her face carefully blank.

“If she doesn’t want to talk about it, that’s okay, and if she does that oughta be alright with Yos- I mean me.” There’s no way this is a hypothetical question. “If a guy gets mad about it then he’s an asshole.”

“...Okay. Thank you, that helps a lot.” A soft smile shows up on her face. “That’s all I needed to know.”

“Sure thing.” And before he can think better of it, he says, “Senpai, if he’s a jerk about it let me know so I can beat him up.”

That gets Yonaka to smile wider. “Yeah, I’ll definitely tell you. Just leave him in one piece, I kind of like him.”

* * *

_been paid in full and double - yosuke/yonaka psl_

Souji stares blankly at the wedding photo of himself. He knows he definitely has never had a wedding photo taken, and especially not with-

“Souji,” says Yonaka, coldly. “What is this?”

“Photoshopped,” he replies, trying not to shiver.

She nods, but her body stays tense. “It’s creepy. Let’s destroy it.” Without further words, she summons her Persona and blasts the photo point blank with dark magic, leaving the photograph… exactly the way it was, with not even a smudge. Yonaka swears loudly.

“Come on,” he says. “Let’s just ignore it.”

“Easy for you to say,” she answers. “You’re single, and you don’t… Ugh.”

They walk silently to the church doors, and listen to the creepy mechanical voice talk about them vowing their unwavering love for one another.

“I never told you this,” says Yonaka, “but you really remind me of my brother. He was quiet and always thinking, and he knew exactly how to put people at ease when he talked. So, you get why this is the creepiest thing in the world, right?”

“Right,” he says. “I’m sorry. But there’s no exit behind us.”

She sighs. “Alright. We’ll just have to open the doors.”

Already planning ahead, Souji says, “I’ll make it up to you later.”

* * *

Yosuke is sulking. It doesn’t take much to see that. He’s not even looking at Souji right now.

“I wasn’t planning to get Yonaka as my destined partner,” Souji says with a sigh. “It could’ve been anybody.”

Yosuke huffs and says nothing.

“I didn’t do anything with her when we were alone,” says Souji. “I promise.”

“...I know you didn’t, you’re not that kind of guy. It’s just a stupid dating game anyway.” Yosuke sounds more like he’s trying to reassure himself. “It doesn’t matter.”

“I’ll make it up to you,” says Souji.

* * *

‘What are we doing here again?’ That’s the general gist of the group’s questions. Souji makes up something about not having been able to really explore it the first time, and then says…

“I thought if we had someone else answer the questions, we might get different results. Yosuke, will you do it?”

Yosuke startles, but then grins for some reason. “Yeah! You can count on me!”

Yonaka is quiet as Yosuke answers all the questions, wondering who might end up as Yosuke’s ‘destined partner’. She’s not a jealous person, at least she doesn’t think she is, and this selection seems practically random anyway…

Oh, the question about supporting someone with a dark and troubled past came up again. It’s her. Now she just prepares herself to try not to fall on her butt this time.

As expected, Yosuke’s destined partner is Yonaka, and both of them fall below to the sounds of wedding bells. Yonaka manages to land somewhat less painfully the second time around, and she helps Yosuke to his feet. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Oof.” Yosuke takes a look around. “Is this the same place you were before?”

“Down to the bells in the background, same place.”

On cue, the weird mechanical voice starts talking about declaring their love for each other. Even after it falls silent, Yonaka says nothing.

“...This is a lot weirder than I thought it was gonna be,” says Yosuke, after a few moments.

“It was less awkward with Souji,” she says. “I was just ticked off. With you it’s… weird, because I like you, but I don’t want to marry you right now and if I did I definitely wouldn’t want a robot voice officiating.”

“Me neither,” he agrees. He still goes a little red: Yonaka figures it’s probably because of the ‘right now’ part. “Uh, I guess we go forward now?”

They go forward, and stop at the commemorative photograph. As she expected, it’s of her and Yosuke, the same pose and clothes and everything. Only the groom’s head is different. “Definitely photoshopped. The picture of me and Souji was basically the same.”

“It’s creepy,” he says, shuddering. “Uh, but you look good in that dress.”

“Thank you.” She pecks his cheek. “I think a black suit would suit you better.”

They reach the outside of the church, where the voice chimes in with the same droning about weddings that Yonaka’s started to tune out. It’s clearly disturbing Yosuke, so she sets a hand on his shoulder. “Robots aren’t lawful officiators for weddings in any country,” she says. “We’ll be fine.”

He gives her a nervous smile. “Heh, I guess so.”

The others appear shortly after they push open the doors. As soon as Souji makes his entrance, Yosuke tells him, “You could’ve told me it was creepy.”

“We were randomly pushed to marry each other by a disembodied voice,” says Souji. “What about that doesn’t sound creepy?”

Yosuke pauses. “Okay, good point.”

Yonaka tries not to snicker.

* * *

_the catastrophic smile - yosuke/yonaka psl_

A small group of girls is crowded around in the hallway. Yonaka and Kanji glance toward them and overhear some of their babble.

“-made some dolls-” “-even selling them now-” “-isn’t Tatsumi embarrassed-” “-not manly at all-”

“They’re making fun of my dolls again,” says Kanji, grumbling. “Been doing it for a couple days now. I really wanna give ‘em a piece of my mind, but Souji-senpai says just to ignore ‘em.”

“Souji has good ideas,” Yonaka says. “I’ll do it for you. Watch.”

Before Kanji can protest, she strides over to the group of girls and taps her foot on the floor.

The girls go quiet instantly. One girl manages a weak, “Uh, Kurai?”

“Hi.” Yonaka smiles, thin and dangerous. “Were you talking about the dolls at Tatsumi Textiles? I think they’re adorable, I bought two last week. It obviously took real skill to make them, I’m impressed. Aren’t you?”

The silence hangs for a few moments. One of the girls mumbles, “I think I’ll be late to class,” and leaves, with the others quickly following suit. A few of the others outright book it, nearly bumping into other students in their haste to run away.

Yonaka returns to Kanji’s side. “Having stupid opinions is okay, but they shouldn’t talk about it where everybody can hear and not expect… why are you looking at me like that?”

Kanji grabs her hands. “Please tell me how to do that!”

That’s how the ‘how to be scary without being suspended from school’ lessons start. Yonaka meets up with Kanji on the floodplain and goes into instructions almost immediately.

“How do you walk when you’re at school?” she asks.

“Uh… like this?” Kanji walks a short distance, turns around and walks back.

“And how do you walk when you’re in the TV, with a weapon in your hand?” she asks.

He pauses to think about it, then walks the same distance. His back is a little straighter and his steps a little faster.

“That’s better, but not quite good enough. Watch me.”

Yonaka walks the path Kanji had walked. “Chin up, no slouching. Walk without straying from your path: you know exactly where you need to be and you don’t make unnecessary movements. Quickly enough to be efficient, but never run. You need to walk like you’re armed.”

“Senpai, you always walk like that,” he says.

She pats the side of her skirt. “It’s always true. Next is the voice. Don’t raise your voice. If you have to shout then you know you aren’t intimidating them at all. Keep your voice at normal volume. If you have to emphasize, lower it a little. Don’t swear.”

Kanji nods along.

“When you’re talking, you can’t use direct threats. If you explicitly say you’ll beat their heads in then you’re going to get suspended. What you need to do is casually talk about the subject, so they know you know what they said, and they know you’re ticked off about it. Say something I would hate,” says Yonaka.

“Uh…” Kanji scratches the back of his neck. “Yosuke-senpai’s been a real jerk sometimes?”

Yonaka chuckles, relaxing for a brief moment. “I can’t do that one, there’s no way I can argue against that. Pick something else.”

He pauses again, before settling on, “That Mogeko thing was kinda cute before it started talking.”

Yonaka closes the distance between them, swift without running, and stops directly in his face. “It’s good at fooling people, isn’t it?” she says, looking up at him with cold fury in her eyes and a level tone to her voice. “I can see how anyone might think that.”

Kanji gulps and takes a step away from her without thinking about it. “You’re really good at this.”

She shrugs, and all the danger she seemed to be emanating disappears at once. “It helps that people know, or think they know, that I can hurt someone. They think the same thing about you already, so you can probably pull it off without too much work. Lesson one is over. Tell me how it goes if you try it out on some poor soul.”

“Maybe I’ll give it a shot with the next person talking smack about you,” he says.

She grins at that. “In that case, let me come watch.”

* * *

_only a steel man can be a lover - yosuke/yonaka psl_

Yosuke stared at his reflection in the mirror and cursed under his breath.

Yonaka had bribed him with her nurse outfit for this. Just thinking about that time made his cheeks heat up. And he guessed it was natural for her to get an outfit from him in return, but…

“Damn it, why does it have to be a girl’s outfit? Couldn’t I have been a police officer or something?”

At least she hadn’t made him wear any makeup this time. Still, the skirt was way too short, the socks too long, and with the bow on his shirt he felt more like he was a present being handed over than anything else.

“Well… I guess I should just get it over with.” After taking a deep breath, he left the bathroom and quickly ducked into Yonaka’s room, shutting and locking the door behind him.

Yonaka was seated on her bed, her hands folded in her lap, and he was intensely aware of the way she looked him over when he turned to face her.

Then she started giggling.

“H-hey! The least you could do is say ‘you look good’ or ‘hey sexy’ or something!” Not that he thought this was sexy at all, but she could pretend!

“Sorry, sorry,” she replied, snickers dying off. “You’re adorable, Yosuke.”

“That’s not the same…” He hid his face in his hands. “Is this part of a plan to blackmail me? Or maybe just kill me from embarrassment?”

“No way.” Yonaka pushed herself off the bed and crossed the room to him. “I know you don’t like it, and I’m really glad you like me enough to do things that make you uncomfortable just because I asked you to.”

“Well…” The nurse outfit had helped a whole lot there. He decided not to say that part out loud, and uncovered his face.

“I love you.” Yonaka wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “I won’t ask you for this again, promise.”

Hearing those words made him feel pleasantly warm in any context, and he relaxed a tiny bit. “Why did you want it in the first place…?”

“Your legs are nice,” she said, matter-of-factly. “Long socks really show them off.”

“There have got to be ways to show off my legs without having me dress like a girl,” he said, incredulous. There had to be some other reason.

Yonaka didn’t volunteer it. Instead she smiled and leaned in for a kiss, which was enough to distract Yosuke from the subject for quite a while.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Forest Covered name changes to note are Teufel = Dialo, Goetia = Dantalion, and Drinker = Eater. I'm not creative, I know.

_to everything you've rearranged - forest covered_

“Um, Yonaka, you know… I know you don’t want to go back to your home, and, people never get chased by mascot characters where I’m from. Unless you count Miyako and her editor’s obsession with tanuki…” Chiyo clears her throat. “So if you wanted to… come back with me, I’d really, really…!”

Yonaka nods. “Okay.”

“Eh? You’re agreeing that easily?”

* * *

Yonaka’s not an easy girl to read sometimes, but even Chiyo can tell that she’s nervous when they’re walking up to her school. “Um, Chiyo, are you sure about this?”

“Relax,” Chiyo says, a bright smile on her face. “We get transfer students all the time, and they never have any problem fitting in.”

“That’s not all I was worried about…”

“Sakura-senpai!” calls out a voice. Wakamatsu jogs over to them. “You’re here early.”

“Uh, well, I was going to show Yonaka around, since she j-just moved here.” ...This is bad, Chiyo thinks, if she can’t even deliver a technically true version of the story without stuttering over it. “Y-Yonaka, this is one of my friends, Hirotaka Wakamatsu.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Yonaka Kurai.” Yonaka seems like she at least can put on a calm face, and knowing Wakamatsu, he’s not going to pick up on anything weird.

“Nice to meet you too, Kurai-senpai!” Yep, he has no idea. “Do you need any help with anything? It must be scary for a new student.”

Yonaka shakes her head. “I wouldn’t say it’s that scary.”

Wakamatsu smiles even more brightly. “You’re really brave!” More like ‘this doesn’t remotely compare even to Koriko’. “So how do you know Sakura-senpai?”

Chiyo gulps. “Uh, we….”

“We had the same part-time job in a different city,” says Yonaka, without missing a beat. “It was basically indentured slavery, but at least I got to meet someone as nice as her through it.”

He nods, while Chiyo sighs in relief that this is going so well.

* * *

After school, Yonaka asks, “What clubs are you in?”

“The art club, but we’re not meeting today,” says Chiyo. “But I visit the drama club a lot, so maybe that counts?”

The drama club is a hubbub of activity. In the back, sets are being constructed, while in the front actors are discussing their lines and practicing how to deliver them. They don’t seem like they’re ready for rehearsals just yet.

“There won’t be anything interesting to see today, Sakura.” Hori is busy leafing through a script, probably written by Nozaki, but he pauses when he sees the two of them enter. “Sorry to disappoint.”

“That’s okay! Can I help with the sets again?” Chiyo asks. “Yonaka, you don’t have to stay around if you don’t want to.”

Yonaka shakes her head. “It’s fine. I can help, I’m not bad with cutting… but maybe that’s a completely different thing.”

It’s a completely different thing, Chiyo thinks, pulling a face.

But Yonaka’s at least decent with a pair of scissors, so Hori puts her to work. Introductions are quick: Hori-senpai, Yonaka, Yonaka, Hori-senpai. The same general explanation of how they know each other is accepted without too much prodding. It’s nice to work with your hands and get something visibly accomplished.

“Maybe I’ll join the drama club,” Yonaka says. “I was thinking probably track and field, but if their schedules don’t conflict…”

“Remember not to stress yourself,” says Chiyo. She has a feeling Yonaka often forgets.

* * *

They meet Kashima down the hallway, shortly after they leave the drama club. “Good to see you, Chiyo,” she says. “And, a princess that I haven’t met before?”

Here it comes. The first time Kashima experience.

Yonaka’s face lights up bright red. “P-princess? You’re definitely mistaken…”

“No, I’m sure of it.” Kashima sets one hand on Yonaka’s shoulder and lifts her chin slightly with the other. “I would never forget such a lovely face. Pray tell, what is your name, my princess?”

“Y...Yonaka. Yonaka Kurai.” Yonaka looks like she’s in a daze.

A dazzling smile from Kashima. “Yonaka is a beautiful name. It suits you.”

Chiyo clears her throat. “Did you know that you missed drama club?”

Kashima’s head snaps toward her. “Huh?! But Hori-chan-senpai didn’t come to get me, so I thought I still had-”

“He was busy with the script. He didn’t have time to get you.” Chiyo sighs.

Kashima’s despair is clear on her face. She lets go of Yonaka. “I’ve got to go apologize while he’s still there! Next time, for sure, I’ll be on time!”

As Kashima races down the hall, Chiyo looks to Yonaka, who still has a bright blush on her face. “Are you okay?”

Weakly, Yonaka says, “Please tell me that’s the person you have a crush on.”

“Nope. Still straight.”

* * *

It’s been about a week since Yonaka came to Chiyo’s school, and things have been going pretty well. At least, Chiyo thinks so! It’s a peaceful school, with nice people.

“Hey, you guys!” Seo spots the two of them outside the school in the afternoon and crosses to them.

Yonaka raises a hand in greeting. “Hi, Seo.”

“Hi, Seo- eh, you know each other already?” asks Chiyo.

“We met in detention yesterday,” says Seo. “I was in for, eh, what was it?”

“I think it was using excessive force in a basketball game,” says Yonaka. “I’m pretty sure it was your teammate you injured, too.”

“Pssh, whatever, they’ll be fine,” says Seo. “You were in for carrying a knife at school, right? That’s pretty bold even for a delinquent!”

Chiyo stares silently at Yonaka.

“...It’s a really hard habit to break all of a sudden,” says Yonaka, sweating. “I won’t do it anymore, I don’t want to be expelled.”

Seo claps her hard on the back. “I think that’s the coolest reason I’ve ever seen anybody get detention for! Even the delinquents are usually just there for truancy or smoking, anybody can do that. It takes someone hardcore to come armed to school and then just get a detention for it.”

Now Chiyo is staring at Seo.

“...What, have I got something on my face?”

* * *

Mikoshiba is checking out the florist in the mall when Chiyo and Yonaka pass by. Chiyo stops to greet him. “Hi, Mikorin!”

“Don’t call me Mikorin!” He turns to the two of them. “And in front of people I don’t know too!”

“It’s okay,” Chiyo says. “Yonaka’s a good friend of mine.”

“Pleased to meet you, Mikorin,” says Yonaka, a small smile on her face.

Mikoshiba clears his throat, and Chiyo can see it coming before he actually says it. “If a beautiful girl calls me by that name, then I’ll just have to treasure it as a token of her affection.” Yonaka stares blankly at him as he gradually turns more and more red. “...I hate saying things like that.”

“Then why did you say it?” asks Yonaka, eyebrows raised.

“It’s a reflex,” says Chiyo. “He learned how to talk to girls from dating sims.”

“Don’t tell her that! Let me keep some of my dignity!” Mikoshiba hides his red face underneath his arm. “You’re way too cruel!”

“Sorry,” says Yonaka. “Chiyo doesn’t have enough secrets of her own to match the ones I’ve shared with her, so she has to use other people’s secrets, too.”

“Anyway, Mikorin,” says Chiyo, “you didn’t have any dignity in the first place.”

* * *

Yonaka stares at Nozaki.

Nozaki stares at his manga.

Chiyo stares at the floor.

Finally, Yonaka turns to Chiyo and says, “He won’t do. He’s not good enough for you.”

Chiyo squeaks and drags Yonaka by the arm into the bathroom. “D-don’t tell him! He hasn’t figured out that I like him yet!”

“He hasn’t figured it out because he’s an oblivious idiot who doesn’t care about anything but his manga,” says Yonaka, rolling her eyes. “You’re wasting your time pining over him. Any one of your other friends would be a better date than him.”

“...Even S-”

“Except Seo.”

* * *

_hold just a little tight - forest covered_

Chiyo doesn’t know what to expect from Yonaka. She’d invited Chiyo to the dance when Chiyo had been complaining about her crush not getting her hints, and Chiyo’d thought that maybe she was just taking pity on her, but that wouldn’t explain the flowers. She had to have those prepared ahead of time…

Dancing with Yonaka is nice, as always. She feels comfortable around Yonaka, right up until the point where Yonaka leans in and kisses her.

She wouldn’t have seen that coming, not in a million years.

...But maybe it’s not such a bad thing. Kind of nice, actually.

* * *

_the fighter still remains - forest covered_

Yonaka had asked for Chiyo’s help moving furniture into her new apartment. Chiyo, in turn, had asked for Nozaki, Mikoshiba, Hori and Wakamatsu’s help, because Chiyo could hardly lift a folding chair by herself.

“I really appreciate it,” said Yonaka, holding a heavy box of pots. “I don’t know what I’d do if I had to get all this inside myself.”

“No problem!” said Mikoshiba. “Where do you want this futon?”

With Wakamatsu and Nozaki doing most of the heavy lifting, and Mikoshiba immediately finding the lightest things to carry in, things seemed to be going well at the beginning.

“You’ve already bought kitchen knives?” Hori asked, looking towards the one knife hanging on the wall.

“Oh, no, that’s not for food,” Yonaka answered, not even glancing towards him. “Chiyo said I wasn’t allowed to bring it to school anymore, so I had to find somewhere to put it.”

A silence fell over the apartment.

“S...Senpai, you have the weirdest sense of humor,” said Wakamatsu, setting down the box he’d been carrying before anything else startled him into dropping it. “Right, Sakura-senpai?”

Chiyo looked pale. “She’s… not joking.”

“It’s not like it’s a secret,” said Yonaka. “Nozaki, can you put these up on the top shelf? I haven’t brought in the stepladder yet.”

“Sure.” Seemingly unaffected, Nozaki did as she asked.

Chiyo hid her face in her hands. “Yonaka. Please, please don’t talk about stabbing people here? Maybe ever again?”

“I didn’t say anything about stabbing people… fine,” Yonaka replied, sighing. “I’ll find someplace to hide it, I guess.”

Furniture unpacking had a much more subdued and awkward air after that. Mikoshiba occasionally tried to lighten the mood, but…

“I said something really sharp to a girl yesterday, and my outfit was killer too, the point is-”

...he didn’t help much.

Once everything was put away, Yonaka flopped down onto the floor. “Whew, glad that’s over with. You guys can stay over if you want, I have some food in the pantry already.”

A variety of excuses were made as to why they couldn’t stay over, from Wakamatsu’s seemingly legitimate ‘basketball practice’ to Mikoshiba’s ‘I have to wash my hair’. Even Yonaka looked dubious at that one.

Chiyo was the only one to smile and answer, “I’d like to stay over. Everyone else is just tired from carrying stuff around, so don’t feel bad.”

Hori cleared his throat. “Before I get going, Sakura, can I talk to you outside?”

“Oh, sure, Hori-senpai.” The two of them exited the apartment, and when the door was shut, Chiyo sighed. “The knife thing, right?”

“I’m just worried. If anything ever happened to you, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself,” he replied.

“Thank you, senpai, but it’s okay.” Chiyo went on, softly: “Yonaka’s from a really bad place and some bad things happened to her, so she’s always worried about protecting herself. She’s scared a lot of the time, even when she doesn’t show it. I know why you’re worried, but I know she would never hurt me.”

After a moment, Hori replied, “I’ll trust you.”

* * *

_fighting like fighting dawn - forest covered_

The Eaters rarely get competitive, simply for the reason that it’s hard to have a real contest with only one of them around at a time. But sometimes they do have minor squabbles.

“Natsuru,” she asks, saccharine sweet, “which of us is the better kisser?”

Natsuru gulps. Her, gentle and slow, who could spend hours kissing her and doing nothing else? Him, full of energy and passion, who’d laughed the first time they bumped noses and went in for it again?

“No comment,” she says.

“I see.” Eater takes it well: “Perhaps you just need some reminding?”

Natsuru leans in.

* * *

_coax you overboard - forest covered_

Teufel stares up at Goetia, all six feet of him.

This is making it hard. If she could just do it and leave, then things would be easier on her. She could fly up to him, but that would make it more awkward…

“Could you lean down some?” she asks, finally. “You’re unreasonably tall.”

Goetia leans down for her, and opens his mouth to speak. It doesn’t matter, because she kisses his cheek and whatever he was going to say becomes, “-wha?!”

“Thank you,” she says. “I’m truly glad I was able to meet you.”

She leaves while he’s blushing.

* * *

_weapons of warmth - forest covered_

Drinker kissing Goetia is becoming less of a surprise every time she does it. It still makes him embarrassed, to be lavished with such affection, but at least he's getting used to her doing it by now.

On the other hand, her other half kissing him out of nowhere is enough to send him into a state of shock.

"Eh, earth to Goetia? I'm not that good." Drinker waves a hand in front of Goetia's face.

Goetia comes back to himself. "What was that for?”

Drinker grins. “No reason. Just thought I’d see what all the fuss was about, y’know?”

* * *

_the summer is eternity for you - forest covered_

Aleph never intends to kiss a woman who isn’t April, even while he’s away.

Besides that it would be cheating, what would even be the point? It feels nice to kiss someone, but it has to feel a hundred times nicer to kiss someone he loves. While they were in the tower, they kissed a lot. It was something happy they could share with each other, and damn the cameras, who cared what administrators were watching them? They could be separated at any point.

When they see each other again, he’ll swing her around and surprise her with a kiss.

* * *

_snipped your wingspan - dramadramaduck_

Virus mistletoe was understandable. It was that time of the year, it was a community party, anybody would suspect a bit of virus shenanigans.

That didn’t mean Karen had to like it. Even if she was stuck under it with Kanna… no, especially if she was stuck under it with Kanna.

Kanna looked two parts embarrassed and one part annoyed. “We really must? This type of foul play isn’t… how I wanted our first kiss to be.”

“...you know,” said Karen, “some people think second kisses are very important.”

Kanna nodded, before pecking Karen on the lips. “Second kiss, please.”

* * *

_a hand to lay on your open palm - dramadramaduck_

Issei has always been physically affectionate. It’s the kind of thing you would notice after a while being friends with him (if your name wasn’t Shirou Emiya, of course).

He’s a lot more physically affectionate with his close female friends now, both by touching them at all and by having them at all. He’ll hold their hands or hug them when it’s called for.

When awful things happen to Retasu, there’s nothing Issei can do except hug her and kiss the top of her head. “There, there. Things will be fine, I promise.”

Her tears slow, possibly from pure shock.

* * *

_a childhood in snow - mogebox_

In the summer, Yonaka says, “It’s too hot.”

Froze looks up from the book she’d been reading. “I didn’t notice.”

“You’re probably just using your ice magic to keep cool without even thinking about it. That has to be cheating or something.” Yonaka crosses the room and wraps her arms around Froze, snuggling against her. “Much better. Thank you, Froze, you’re the best.”

Froze feels her cheeks heat up with her blush. “You’re welcome.”

(In the winter, Yonaka says, “It’s too cold.”

Froze says, “I can’t do anything about that,” and pats Yonaka on the shoulder when she looks dejected.)

* * *

_a dangerous mix if you don't get it right - tsumuri/lapis psl_

Tsumuri likes to wrap all his arms around Lapis and rest his chin on top of her head. She’s not short, it’s just that he’s tall.

“Centipedes are long,” Tsumuri explains, when she brings up his height. “The smallest ones are only a few millimeters, but my kind is one of the longest. The normal ones get up to twelve inches long.” He chuckles, and adds with a grin, “Well, I can’t say I’m as long as that, but I don’t disappoint~”

“But you’re much taller than a foot,” says Lapis.

“That was a sexual innuendo, Lapis,” he says.

“Oh.”

* * *

_so sweet that I choke - tsumuri/lapis psl_

Does Tsumuri bite? Now and again. A little blood from the lip doesn’t excite him nearly as much as real gore, so he tends not to bother with that. Besides, those ghosts of Lapis’s are so overprotective, they would hardly let him nibble.

Tsumuri kisses Lapis often, because sometimes it seems like she’ll forget that he likes her this way if she isn’t constantly reminded. Kisses to greet her, kisses after dates, kisses in public because he doesn’t care who sees that he adores her.

Lapis makes the sweetest sounds when she’s being kissed, ones he treasures more than gore.

* * *

_words are sleazy - satanick/three psl_

Satanick is not one for romance. He likes sex, and is into all varieties of it from somewhat tender to angry and hateful, but when it comes to romantic relationships he’s out of his depth. But for Three he’ll make his very best attempt.

“Well, now~ Shall we be off on our date?” he asks, beaming wide. He holds his arm out like a gentleman for Three, who doesn’t take it or even look at it.

“Satanick,” she says. “I don’t want to go to a strip club on a date.”

“...I tried, and therefore no one should criticize me.”

* * *

_the skulls of the willingly deceived - satanick/three psl_

To say that Satanick likes kissing is to say that fish like drops of water. It’s true, but he needs much more than that to survive.

But he does like kissing, and as much as he would deny it if you asked, he likes kissing Three especially. He can so rarely get her attention, as bored and tired as he is, that when she’s actually returning his affections, he hardly knows where to start. So usually he starts at the beginning: his lips against hers, cloying sweetness masking less pleasant tastes.

That’s just fine with him. He’s the same way.

* * *

_where my kindness ends - satanick/valmont psl_

“I’m surprised you went through the front door,” says Valmont, barely looking up from the book he’d been reading.

“I wouldn’t, normally,” says Satanick, flopping down on the seat next to him. “But I saw that you had visitors!”

“Visitors…?” Valmont doesn’t get those, being the head of a secret criminal organization.

“Some police types or something. Anyway, I messed with their heads some and made them leave. It’s not as flashy as my usual style, but you know, I wouldn’t want to have to visit you in prison.”

Valmont stares, and says finally, “...I won’t thank you.”

“You’re welcome~~”

* * *

_your greed and disgrace - satanick/valmont psl_

Satanick is a good kisser, among his many, many other flaws.

Some would call being a good kisser a ‘talent’ or at the very least a ‘skill’, but no, it’s a flaw. Because it’s capable of distracting Valmont from how much he absolutely hates this man, how much he doesn’t want to be here, and how despicable Satanick really is. He has sinful lips and a wicked tongue and Valmont hates him and his mouth oh so much.

Valmont hates being kissed as much as any other part of sex, because that’s what people who actually like each other do.

* * *

_money is money to share - heather/patchouli psl_

When she returns from her trips, Heather brings Patchouli all kinds of medicine.

“One of the nice parts about traveling so much!” she says, as Patchouli mixes the powder she just gave her with water. “You get to see all kinds of things for sale. This little bag was going for fifty gold pieces.”

“Did you actually pay for it?” Patchouli asks.

Heather scoffs. “You don’t trust me? I paid every single coin for that, thank you.”

She might have swindled some other guys to get the money, but if it’s for Patchouli’s health, she shouldn’t mind too much, right?

* * *

_put off my inheritance - yonaka & haruka psl_

“There’s this girl,” says Yonaka.

Haruka looks at her askance. “Aren’t there like four girls, Yonacchi?”

Yonaka sighs. “Another one.”

“You keep picking up new ones! Are you sure you won’t have a harem like a rich sultaness? With seven hundred husbands and wives, and three hundred concubines?”

“First, I’m not having concubines. Secondly, it’s not my fault everyone is so cute and so kind to me,” says Yonaka, rubbing her forehead. “...But it wouldn’t be bad to be a sultaness…”

“Can I be your advisor, Sultaness Yonacchi?”

“I can’t think of any job you would be worse at. Sure."

* * *

_so faithful so few - mirari/patchouli psl_

Mirari is surprisingly considerate, for a succubus.

Some days, Patchouli doesn’t want to be kissed or even touched at all, and Mirari respects that. She can make her breakfast, then sit next to her and discuss some of the rare books that her friends would love to get their hands on.

And some days, Patchouli is in a different mood altogether, and when she leans in Mirari meets her halfway. Mirari’s kiss is warm, slow, and sweet, and the ages of experience behind it are not nearly as important as the knowledge that Mirari waited for her to move first.

* * *

_all manner of sins - sal/meikai psl_

Meikai is getting kissed terribly often these days.

Only by Sal, of course. He would probably kill anyone else who tried, and Meikai doesn’t like to even picture that. But Sal kisses him often enough for two men, and with enough force for three.

Sal presses him against beds, walls, or anything handy and seeks his lips. Meikai hardly has a chance to respond, or sometimes doesn’t respond altogether, before Sal deepens the kiss, hungry and setting the pace without Meikai’s say on the matter.

The unsettling idea that he’s being claimed sticks in Meikai’s mind and refuses to leave.

* * *

_wrap my flesh in ivy and in twine - v/v/natsuru psl_

V/V likes to kiss, and she likes to kiss Natsuru, especially.

Kissing is a strange human pastime. There’s no evolutionary benefit to it that she can see: it doesn’t directly contribute to reproduction, but it’s still associated with it anyway.

On the other hand, it’s fun! She’s tried it out with a few humans by now, and has decided that the better she knows someone, the more fun it is to kiss them. Natsuru is the most fun: it makes her giggly and warm inside when she kisses her.

She doesn’t get it at all, but she likes it.

* * *

_subscribe me not to darkness - wadanohara_

In Old’s opinion, Sal is a dick.

Okay. This is possibly unfair to Sal; everyone is a dick in the Red Sea, save for Stella and maybe Squid. Let’s try that again.

Sal is a humongous dick.

That’s more like it.

He understands obsession with revenge. He’d be the worst kind of hypocrite if he pretended he wasn’t going to claw Tatsumiya’s face off at the first opportunity.

But obsession with a girl barely even a hundred years old, who’d never done anything to him except not return his fixation? Come on, Sal, get a life. Pick up a hobby.

* * *

_improving all the time - mogeko castle_

The major problems with kissing a Mogeko are one, fur getting in your mouth, and two, their tongues.

Yonaka can manage both of these. She doesn’t have to deal with the second if they don’t French kiss, and honestly she can live without that. As far as fur goes, it’s annoying, but she got used to it after a while, and Defect Mogeko washes regularly.

On the other hand, she’s not just kissing any ordinary Mogeko, but Defect Mogeko. She’s sure that she could kiss anyone of any species, and as long as she loved them, her heart would race.

* * *

_consider the danger as it moves - mogeko castle_

Yonaka thinks that kisses are easy enough to sneak by.

She can’t do all she wants to do with Shinya regularly: they’d get caught, and who knows what would happen. She can’t really even make out with him, not seriously, or their parents might find them flushed and with their clothes rumpled and they’d put two and two together.

But she can kiss him. She kisses him all the time, his lips (he kisses back), his cheek (he smiles), the palm of his hand (he laughs). She kisses everywhere he has to offer and doesn’t leave a single trace behind.

* * *

_night bird, early riser - ice scream_

“It’s cold,” says Shirogane, after dinner is over.

Yukisada stares at him, a bit perplexed. “We live in the Arctic. It’s always cold.”

“Don’t you think it’s particularly cold right now, though?” Shirogane asks, a pleading note coming to his voice. “Really incredibly cold?”

“Well, yes, I suppose so,” says Yukisada.

“It could be dangerous, so… We should… share… body heat.” After forcing out each word Shirogane looks away, face oddly red for the cold.

“Oh!” Yukisada smiles and lightly kisses his cheek, causing him to blush even more. “If you want to cuddle, you can always just say so.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not even going to do Forest Covered name changes up here this time because there are so many. They're with the ficlets themselves.

_we are the right we are the stay - forest covered_

The idea that other worlds had people who only liked one gender or the other, that Teufel could accept. Even the idea that such people were the vast majority she didn’t raise much of a fuss over.

This, she could not just let by.

So she went to the bulletin board, and in clear letters wrote:

‘I’ve just had a serious disagreement about how the world works, and I need a poll.

Please explain to me how children are formed in your world. Specifically I’m looking for any required numbers of people involved, what sexes they may be, and any limitations based on species.

I know what sex is, you don’t have to explain that part, please.’

The many answers came in depressingly similar: only two people, no more and no less. Only a man and a woman. Only creatures of the same species, or in the case of some animals, very close species but their offspring wouldn’t be fertile.

She was despairing of finding any world similar to hers when she found a small note.

‘I haven’t heard of more than two people having a child, but I think it can be done, and I know one person can do it by themselves… There’s not really any reason two people of the same sex can’t have a baby, and my parents are different species.

-Erdi’

Teufel breathed a sigh of relief. At least there was one other world out there that was sane.

* * *

_as our hearts become sweetly untied - forest covered_

Aneko doesn’t know if she believes in destiny, or in ties of friendship that never disappear. She’s seen a lot of friends of hers leave and never come back, both in Holly Heights and in Koriko. She’s seen some friends return, but not remember her at all.

But, with Merope, they’ve been separated more than once, only to find each other again. And every time, they remembered each other.

Merope kept her promise that she’d bake Aneko a birthday cake, and it meant more to her than she could say in words. Even now that Merope has left Koriko for the second time...

Maybe, if there’s anyone who she can believe she’ll always reunite with in the end, it’s Merope.

* * *

_left him dreaming - forest covered_

“Tsadi, Tsadi!”

Tsadi doesn’t mind being bugged by his roommates, especially not Koharu. He sets down his book. “Yeah?”

“What are you reading?” Koharu asks, peering at the cover. “Abbreviated History of Japan… that sounds boring.”

“It’s a little dry,” he says. “But it’s all stuff I didn’t know before, so I’m enjoying it. Anyway, I’ve read worse before.”

“Why would you read something you thought was boring?” she asks.

“Lots of reasons. There wasn’t much to do in Animus, so I nearly exhausted the first library. And I was still learning to read when I was there, so getting to read a book at all was novel and exciting to me.”

Koharu looks dubious. “You needed more hobbies.”

Tsadi can’t help but chuckle. “We needed way more than hobbies.”

* * *

_live in the truth - forest covered_

“Of course I’m somewhat concerned that I’m edible to you,” says Teufel, with her usual expression. “But I doubt you would just eat me now, when I could tell everyone about this if I wanted to. More importantly, when I baked you apple pie and you told me it was delicious, with just the right amount of sugar to balance the natural tartness of the apples...”

“It tasted like ashes mixed with wet cement,” says Selenite, reluctantly. “And I wasn’t able to keep any of it down. I’ve practiced pretending to enjoy normal food for many, many years.”

She narrows her eyes. “You lied to me to my face about my baking. I might not be able to forgive you for that.”

“So sorry, mademoiselle,” he replies. “But if the consequence is not being treated to any more of your surely delightful confections, I believe I can survive without them.”

* * *

_in strange ideas we live apart - forest covered_

ROOM 001  
**Mononobe no Futo** (Miyako)  
[Touhou Project]  
**Aleph (AU)** (Tsadi)  
[Shin Megami Tensei]  
**Mizuno You** (Mem)  
[Star Driver]  
**Sawatari Makoto (AU)** (Koharu)  
[Kanon]  
**Megumi Kitaniji** (Hebi)  
[The World Ends With You]

It’s hard to say whether Mem or Koharu has more energy. Sometimes they compete over it, like in this ‘spin around and around until you get too dizzy and fall over’ contest.

It’s a close contest, and after both of them are able to lift their heads, they look to the judge for an answer.

Tsadi has to make a decision. “...It was Mem,” he says, trying to sound sure when in reality, it was way too close for him to be completely certain.

Mem cheers and hugs his side, while Koharu pouts. “Tsadiiiiiii…”

Miyako and Hebi are sitting back and watching the affairs. “I know not what the purpose of this exercise may be,” says Miyako.

“I just wish they hadn’t done it in here,” says Hebi. “What if they’d gotten sick?”

Tsadi shrugs, with a Mem still attached to him. “I didn’t want them to hit anyone else.”

ROOM 002  
**Eater** (Drinker)  
[Yggdra Union]  
**Hitomi** (Brunhilde)  
[Dead Or Alive]  
**Sakura Kinomoto** (Peony)  
[Cardcaptor Sakura]  
**Yuuki Hase** (Takeru)  
[Isshuukan Friends]  
**Natsuru Senou (AU)** (Aneko  
[Kämpfer]  
**Orihime Inoue** (Leona)  
[Bleach]

Room 2 is a musical room, much of the time. That’s usually contributed by Drinker playing on her harp and singing, with Aneko dueting with her.

Not to say that the other roommates don’t contribute. As the only male-bodied person in the room, Takeru has been nominated as the role of tenor when they need one, though he’s not very good at it. Brunhilde sings along, loud and not always in tune. Leona often nabs pots and vegetables from the kitchens in order to serve as their percussionist. And Peony fills the most important role, that of the enthusiastic audience.

It’s especially important that Peony applaud, because depending on who’s in their room and how loudly Brunhilde and Takeru are singing and Leona is banging on her pots, they may be annoying their neighbors, and only the evidence that somebody’s enjoying the music keeps them safe from being yelled at.

ROOM 003  
**Sora** (Sho)  
[Kingdom Hearts]  
**Roxas** (Koji)  
[Kingdom Hearts]  
**Mitsuru Kirijo** (Alayna)  
[Persona 4 Arena]  
**Chiyo Sakura** (Shiro)  
[Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun]  
**Terra** (Jigu)  
[Kingdom Hearts]  
**Aqua** (Luca)  
[Kingdom Hearts]

“It’s weird, living in a room where everybody but you knows each other,” Shiro says, fidgeting with her hands.

Across the room, Sho and Koji are tossing pillows at each other, while Luca and Jigu are laughing at them and occasionally tossing a pillow back at them when they miss. They all seem like they’re having a great time.

“It’s a bit awkward,” says Alayna. “I’ve never been in this situation before. Usually, people at least know who I am, even if they don’t know me personally.”

They sit in silence for a moment before Shiro says, “Want to be friends?” When Alayna looks startled, she goes on: “I mean, since you and I are the only ones here who don’t know each other already, I just thought we could…”

Alayna takes a moment after she trails off, but smiles, just a little. “I’d like to be friends with you.”

ROOM 004  
**Koutarou Suga** (Linos)  
[Forest of Drizzling Rain]  
**Shizuo Heiwajima** (Nodoka)  
[Durarara!!]  
**Celty Sturluson** (Ewen)  
[Durarara!!]  
**Yoshiya "Joshua" Kiryu** (Yoshi)  
[The World Ends With You]  
**Yuma Tsukumo** (Suta)  
[Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL]  
**Manami Sangaku** (Hane)  
[Yowamushi Pedal]

Room 4 is the quietest room. That shouldn’t be surprising. Linos and Ewen don’t talk at all, and Hane is usually asleep. Nodoka would rather smoke, and even Suta’s boundless energy and Yoshi’s fairly normal level of volume can’t make up for those four.

A group vote declared that Nodoka can’t smoke while inside the room. There’s no rule against it, but when Linos finally came back from meeting the Witch to ask about it, he wrote that there would be if that wasn’t prejudiced against those for whom it has no harmful effects.

So no smoking in the room. It doesn’t hurt a third of the people there, but even if Yoshi’s too dead for lung cancer, it still offends his nose, Ewen’s polite, and Suta and Hane are young and susceptible.

Linos would like him to stop entirely, but that’s a losing battle if he ever saw one.

ROOM 005  
**Suika Ibuki** (Atsumaru)  
[Touhou Project]  
**Minato Arisato** (Jeong)  
[Persona 3]  
**Yonaka Kurai** (Amaya)  
[Mogeko Castle]  
**Yukari Takeba** (Hane)  
[Persona 4 Arena Ultimax]  
**Razol (AU)** (Asad)  
[Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic]  
**Kaneki Ken** (Ganta)  
[Tokyo Ghoul]

Room 5 might be the most traumatized of the rooms, though you wouldn’t know it from a casual glance.

Amaya’s nightmares wake her up early on most mornings. The others notice it, but the first one to do anything about it is Jeong, who buys her an extra stuffed animal and leaves it on her bed. Amaya hugs it and gives him a gentle smile.

Hane usually avoids being in the room alone with Jeong, if she can. Ganta picks up on that, and Jeong is his friend too, so if they’re ever in that awkward situation and he’s passing by he’ll detour to keep them from being alone together.

Atsumaru keeps them stocked up on alcohol. That’s her contribution to getting rid of trauma. And Asad pushes them with provocation whenever she sees them show a bit of hesitation or fear, which is helping, in her own unique way.

ROOM 006  
**Ki/Soothead** (Kokoro)  
[Soothead]  
**Kuroko Tetsuya** (Tada)  
[Kuroko no Basket]  
**Minako Arisato** (Aki)  
[Persona 3]  
**Riku (AU)** (Kai)  
[Kingdom Hearts]  
**Shiori Kanzaki** (Ame)  
[Forest of Drizzling Rain]  
**Korra** (Suka)  
[Legend of Korra]

Kokoro likes bugging people, but not people he has to see everyday. When it comes to his roommates, he mostly grumbles, tells them he hates them, and leaves them alone.

Who’d like a room with three girls who are way too loud, anyway? Ame’s the one who brings in board games to play, for example, but Suka and Aki are quick to join in, and they usually manage to rope in Kai, too. Suka usually doesn’t know the rules, but Aki does, and she patiently teaches her all the weird games Suka’s never heard of.

(“Like a regular hungry hippo, or a hippo cow?” “You have hippopotamus cows where you’re from?” “Yeah, and flying fishopotamus, people ride those.” “That I’ve gotta see.”)

They’re always laughing and having a good time and not bothering to keep from bothering him. So annoying.

Shouldn’t there be a sixth person in this room, anyway?

ROOM 007  
**Dialo** (Teufel)  
[The Gray Garden]  
**Tsukiyama Shuu** (Selenite)  
[Tokyo Ghoul]  
**Asami Sato** (Yasuko)  
[Legend of Korra]  
**Akira Midousuji** Kimo  
[Yowamushi Pedal]  
**Okuni Kumou** (Kuma)  
[Rengoku ni Warau]  
**Baren Kumou** (Koi)  
[Rengoku ni Warau]

Teufel likes to figure people’s favorite foods out by extended observation. That way, she can surprise them with something they’ll really enjoy. This is what she’s determined about her roommates:

Yasuko tends to go for high quality food when she can. She’ll often eschew the plain breakfast given in the employee’s quarters by worker spirits and instead go out for all her meals.

Kimo, on the other hand, tends to eat whatever’s available, and usually in a way that is disgusting to watch. His favorites seem to be eel and tofu: he’s a practical person when it comes to food.

She has no intention of feeding Kuma and Koi, but she observes them anyway. Their favorites are ‘whatever someone else makes for them’. She’s never once seen them in the kitchen, so it’s a haven for her.

For some reason, she hasn’t been able to find out Selenite’s preferences yet.

ROOM 008  
**Portgas D. Ace** (Hiken)  
[One Piece]  
**Dantalion** (Goetia)  
[Makai Ouji: Devils  & Realist]  
**Shoukichi Naruko** (Red)  
[Yowamushi Pedal]  
**Sakamichi Onoda** (Hime)  
[Yowamushi Pedal]  
**Merciless** (Killer)  
[Original Character]

Hime’s not so sure about all of his roommates.

Killer doesn’t seem like a bad person, necessarily… But with a name like that, and with her talking about her duties killing empty ones in the name of her gods all the time, she’s more than a little creepy. At least she’s stopped writing in blood.

Hiken’s pretty friendly! And he can turn himself into fire, which is really cool. And he’s also a pirate. Actually, he doesn’t have much bad to say about Hiken. Moving on.

Goetia is a literal demon, but he knows from Teufel that demons aren’t so bad. Really, Goetia’s mostly just withdrawn, and the only person in the room who’s got an actual bed. Magicked it up for himself. Hime’s kind of jealous about that.

No matter what, though, at least he’ll always have Red. He could live in any room if it was with him.

ROOM 009  
**Dionysus Thyrsos** (Ilya)  
[Kamigami no Asobi]  
**Hinata Shouyou** (Jyuuban)  
[Haikyuu!!]  
**Filia & Samson** (Delilah & Gossamer)  
[Skullgirls]  
**Ryoji Mochizuki** (Mushi)  
[Persona 3]  
**Elizabeth** (Nightingale)  
[Bioshock Infinite]  
**Tobio Kageyama** (Ou)  
[Haikyuu!!]

Ilya surveys his full room with some dismay.

Ou and Jyuuban are the first out. Teenagers. Young teenagers, even. The island doesn’t have a drinking age, but if Ilya knows the modern age, he knows he’s going to get in trouble for offering a drink to people below the age of at least sixteen.

He’s already tried Delilah. Though her hair seemed interested, the girl her hair was attached to said no thanks.

Mushi falls under the teenager category… probably. Ilya’s pretty sure he doesn’t, a god can tell these things, but if you’re drinking with someone who looks like a teenager, it’s hard to explain that they’re really the personation of a force of nature. Better not to bother.

Nightingale doesn’t look like the type who’d drink. But, maybe he’ll offer anyway.

Drinks are better shared with friends. At parties, even, but no one likes his kind of parties.

ROOM 010  
**Lobco** (Erdi)  
[Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea]  
**Mickey Mouse** (Mortimer)  
[Kingdom Hearts]  
**Edward Elric** (Rich)  
[Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood]  
**Ren Mihashi** (Hoshi)  
[Big Windup!]  
**Patchouli Knowledge** (Violet)  
[Touhou Project]  
**Kaori Fujimiya** (Mai)  
[Isshuukan Friends]

Mortimer kind of expected to be rooming with humans, or people who were other things but looked like humans. It happens! Most people on most worlds look pretty human. He’s come to terms with it a long, long time ago.

He’s just happy that his roommates are nice, that’s all. Hoshi’s skittish, but once he gets used to you he seems nice. Violet’s got a stack of books up to the ceiling, and is more interested in those than any of them. Rich’s probably the most social one of the bunch, since Mai finds a reason to stop talking to you if she gets too involved and doesn’t have her notebook with her. It’s a pretty quiet room, all in all.

And, Erdi… She’s sweet and all, but...

Well, mice don’t usually hang around with lobsters too much, but he’s just happy to find someone who’s naturally smaller than him!

ROOM 011  
**Lightning Farron** (Rose)  
[Final Fantasy XIII]  
**Oerba Dia Vanille** (Pearl)  
[Final Fantasy XIII]  
**Oerba Yun Fang** (Dragon)  
Final Fantasy XIII]  
**Frau** (Niklaren)  
[07-Ghost]  
**Labrador** (Elijah)  
[07-Ghost]  
**Teito Klein** (TK)  
[07-Ghost]

Room 11, generally speaking, is divided into two groups. There are three girlfriends, and there are two bishops and their protege. Largely, they don’t do too much mixing.

That’s not quite true. Rose is the grumpiest one in the room and keeps to her side, but the other two girls are more open to talk. Elijah has proven himself to be friendly enough, and after being pressed upon that filling the room to the brim with flowers was far too many flowers, the other two have been more willing to talk to him.

Niklaren they just ignore, after the incident they don’t talk about. They don’t have much tolerance for perverted priests, but they have to live together in relative peace.

TK’s shy. Pearl and Dragon would be happy to help him come out of his shell if he wanted to, but he usually hangs around Niklaren, and see above.

ROOM 012  
**Vanitas (AU)** (Mii)  
[Kingdom Hearts]  
**Karkat Vantas (AU)** (Cat)  
[Homestuck]  
**Akari** (Airy)  
[Samurai Deeper Kyo]  
**Hayato Gokudera** (Taka)  
[Katekyo Hitman REBORN!]  
**Tsunayoshi Sawada** (Skylar)  
[Katekyo Hitman REBORN!]

Airy collects rumors and gossip. Information is more critical than anyone realizes, and besides, it’s just fun to talk about people behind their backs.

Luckily for her, she rooms with two sets of boyfriends.

Okay, so only one of them is technically official. Mii and Cat don’t smooch too much when she’s in the room, but sometimes she catches them doing it when she walks in, and they’re cuddly when they go to sleep.

Taka and Skylar might not be official just yet, but come on. A completely devoted subordinate and a boss who has to keep reminding him that they’re friends and the devotion goes both ways? It’s obvious there’s something going on between them besides mafia loyalty.

She can get a lot of juicy information this way. It doesn’t matter that she has to be the only girl in the room, they’ve got nothing she hasn’t seen before.

* * *

_into the crossfire faithfully run - tsumuri/lapis psl_

Lapis is a moth, and centipedes don’t normally hunt moths, unless there’s a good opportunity. Catching prey that can fly away at will is difficult, unless the centipede gets in a lucky strike with paralyzing venom. Most moths are too smart to let centipedes get that lucky or that close.

But Lapis isn’t prey. She’s a companion, someone Tsumuri enjoys talking to and having around. And Lapis seems to at least tolerate his presence. She’s more friendly to him now than she was months ago, and next month she’ll be even friendlier still. Little by little, he gets her to lower her guard around him.

She isn’t prey, not right now. But Tsumuri is known to be a fickle bug.

* * *

_the heart was not your master - satanick/valmont psl_

Valmont wishes, more than anything else in the world (right now), that he had the power to fight back against the likes of a Devil.

If he did, he wouldn’t end up in this kind of situation, chained to a wall with handcuffs that have so helpfully been padded for his comfort. He wouldn’t have his shirt on the floor and his pants and underwear around his knees.

Satanick, somehow, is still dressed, and sitting on a chair in front of him. Valmont’s not sure if he’s glad about that or not.

“What are you staring at?” Valmont hisses. His handcuffs clink together as he tries to shift into a position that affords him even a tiny bit more modesty.

“You, of course!” Satanick’s smile is far too bright and cheery, with the shine of sharp teeth. “You’re so cute, I could stare at you aaall day.”

The idea of being here all day makes Valmont cringe. “I’d rather you didn’t. Just get whatever you came to do over with.”

Satanick grins even wider. “Oh~? You’re so eager! Well, I can’t refuse you, can I?”

One of his shadowy arms reaches out across the room and brushes underneath Valmont’s chin, before trailing down his chest. Valmont shivers. The sensation isn’t exactly unpleasant, as much as he’d like it to be. It’s just strange. He shuts his eyes.

The arm curls around his hip, and the other reaches out to rub the inside of his thigh. The hands are unnaturally smooth, and don’t chafe at all when he starts to stroke more sensitive spots. It’s not something Valmont can say he’s ever wanted done to him, but-

“You’re getting hard,” comes the voice from the peanut gallery.

“I know that,” he snaps, not quite as firmly as he’d intended. He opens his eyes to glare at him: until then, he’d started doing a decent job pretending what was touching him wasn’t attached to Satanick.

Satanick laughs, and as his hands keep stroking he starts to speak, voice low and as smooth as his hands. “You should see yourself, naked just for me. I love the way you try to pretend you’re not getting off even when I can make you come with just my hands. You’ll still deny it, won’t you? Even if I make you scream in ecstasy, a second later you’ll tell me you didn’t enjoy it, won’t you? And then I’ll fuck you over and over until you can’t come any more.”

Valmont can’t help but let out an undignified whimper before biting his lip hard enough to hurt. Satanick smirks, and rises from his chair.

It’s going to be a long night.

* * *

_shamefully saddled - yosuke/yonaka psl_

“The person running this ‘tournament’ isn’t Teddie,” Yonaka announces. “It’s probably someone who only knows us superficially.”

The others sitting at their table at Junes turn to her expectantly.

“Do any of your titles have anything that wouldn’t be known by everybody? Even if it’s just a rumor and not the truth, none of our titles go beyond skin deep. They ticked us off, yeah, but they could’ve been way worse.”

“But, Yonaka,” says Yukiko, “the Midnight Channel is something everybody sees. Whoever’s running this could have chosen obvious names so everyone would get them.”

“That’s true, but it’s still not Teddie, because of Souji’s and my titles. How do I put this…” After a moment’s thought, the ‘Cold-Knife Killer’ (as the Midnight Channel put it) says, “Let’s say you’re describing two things to someone who has never seen them. One’s scarlet and the other’s kind of pinkish. You can only use the word ‘red’ to describe one of them. Which one are you going to call ‘red’?”

“The scarlet one, obviously,” says Chie. “They’re both red, but that’s a redder red.”

Yonaka nods. “Exactly. So, for Souji and I, Souji might be a bit overprotective when it comes to Nanako-”

Souji looks away silently.

“-but I have so many issues with my brother that I almost got a therapist before I moved here. Nobody who knows both of us would mention Souji’s ‘sibling complex’ instead of mine, because I actually have one.”

“Even Teddie knows you like your brother way too much,” says Yosuke, with a long-suffering sigh.

“So it’s not Teddie,” says Souji, before Yonaka can say anything in return. “Let’s move on.”

* * *

_her innocent fingers - sherbet/yonaka psl_

It had been hard for him. He was naturally shameless in his desires, and she was obviously willing: being rescued from demons had given her a better impression of the kind of person he was, one that he doubted was completely accurate. She put up with his teasing and cruel nature, and was still kind to him somehow.

But he had a duty, and he knew he risked death every time he went out to fight a demon. It felt too cruel even for him to give her false hopes that he could stay.

The night before he was to go out on another patrol, she comes to him in his room. “I hear you’re going out tomorrow.”

“Word gets around fast, huh?” he answers, glib as always. He doesn’t rise from his seat on his bed, and she comes to sit down next to him. “I won’t be back for a bit, so you’ll have to keep yourself entertained while I’m gone.”

“I hear it’s really dangerous,” she says, low and serious. “More than usual.”

“That’s what I hear too,” he replies, with a smile.

“Can I kiss you?” she asks. At his double-take, she adds, “I want to kiss you, and I don’t want you to go off and die before I get the chance to. But I won’t stop you from going.”

“...Aaah, well…” With her being so honest, and so cute, he finds it hard to refuse. “If you want.”

She nods, a serious expression on her face, and climbs into his lap. Her mouth seeks his and as they meet, she rests her hands on his shoulder.

Warm… Her lips are warm and sweet. She kisses slowly at first, but with gradually more intensity, going from closed-mouth and chaste to open-mouthed and deep.

He pulls her closer to him with a gentle hand on her back. Her chest brushes up against his, and her hands start to wander. He doesn’t have much exposed skin with his scarf on, but she rubs his back and carefully scrapes with her nails, and it makes him shiver more than any cold ever did.

She breaks the kiss to breathe, and while she does, places tinier kisses on what parts of his chin and neck she can get to.

“I’ve seen how you act around everyone else. You’ll hit on almost everyone, but not me.”

“It’s just teasing.” Nobody else would take him up on it, after all. And she was actually nice to him, so he’d regret treating her the same way. “You may not have noticed, but I don’t get along with most other people.”

She looks him in the eye. “I noticed. And, I wouldn’t do this with just anyone, either. It’s because it’s you… I want you.”

He gives up then. His hands travel from her back to her behind and give it a soft squeeze. “Rea~lly? Are you sure?”

Her breath hitches as she answers, “Yes. Please.”

“Guess I have no choice then!” He smirks, wide and lopsided, and undoes her ribbon first before unbuttoning her jacket and tossing it to the side. She’s fairly flat, but when he cups her breasts through her shirt she gasps and rubbing her nipples through the fabric makes her mewl softly. He can only imagine the delicious noises she’ll make when he’s actually touching skin.

She pulls his scarf off and kisses his neck, sucking gently. If she leaves marks, they’ll be easy enough to hide with his typical layered clothing.

Her shirt goes next, and her bra is fumbled with for a second before he manages to get it off. He rubs circles over her breasts and teases the tips with his fingers for a minute before lowering his head and sucking on one. She throws her head back and moans his name, tangling her fingers in his hair.

He’s partly hard now, and he knows she’s noticed because her other hand fumbles around to try to feel for him. It’s a dull sensation through his coat, and he has to pause making her moan to shuck his remaining layers down to his boxers, where his hardness is plainly visible.

She rearranges herself then, so that when she pulls his underwear off and begins to stroke him, it’s easier for her to bend her head and lick the very tip. She takes a few long licks, dragging her tongue down the whole length of him, before sliding her lips around the head.

He shudders, resting his hand in her hair and petting her whenever she slides further down his shaft. When she can’t fit any more in her mouth she glances up at his face, sucking hard, and just locking eyes with her makes him a little harder.

Before she can get too far, he tugs on the back of her head until she pulls off of him, wiping off some of the precum on her lips. “Tell me what you want,” he purrs, expecting to embarrass her with the dirty things she wanted done to her.

She does blush, but manages to answer in a relatively strong voice, “Whatever you want to do to me.”

This is a dangerous amount of power to give him. His smirk grows. “Take your skirt off and lie on your back.”

She does as told with no complaints, and he settles himself over her. As he begins rubbing through her underwear with one finger, she returns to her previous efforts, taking a minute to get adjusted to sucking on his length from the new angle.

Her panties get wetter and wetter. Once he pulls them to one side and starts stroking her outer lips directly, she starts making soft, pleased noises around him between swallows.

She isn’t as sweet here as her other lips, but he enjoys the taste nonetheless, and enjoys the way she arches up and pushes towards his mouth even more. He laves her slowly, and when he spreads her out he traces out patterns with his tongue before licking her clit once or twice, then repeating the process.

There’s no hope for her. Even with her best efforts, she comes before he does; she stiffens up, going completely still down to her tongue, and then goes limp. She pulls off of him to catch her breath, and when she does get enough focus, she goes back to licking and rubbing.

She either misjudges how close he is or doesn’t mind him coming on her face. Though she lets out a soft ‘eep!’, she keeps stroking him all the way through his climax. When he finally turns around to look at her, she has strands of come on her cheek, and is licking some off her finger.

She meets his gaze as he opens his mouth. “You’re going to say something about ice cream and you need to not do that, seriously.”

He laughs.

* * *

_fallen for a foreign face - something idk_

“‘Would I have sex with a bird?’” Yonaka repeats, and turns to look at a figure to her side. “You mean, like Yuuya here?”

Yuuya startles, though only for a moment before his expression is replaced by his usual smile. “I’m sure they don’t mean me specifically-”

“You’re the only intelligent bird I know, so I’m going to think about you anyway.” When he doesn’t have an argument for that, Yonaka goes on. “If the bird were in a human form, yeah, sure. If they were in their bird form… I wouldn’t go looking for one for a one night stand, but a bird I was dating and things were going that way, tentatively yes?”

“Tentatively,” Yuuya says. “Might I ask on what provisions?”

“If it’s too much effort to figure it out,” says Yonaka, “we might just cuddle and eat ice cream instead.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forest Covered name notes: Teufel = Dialo, Selenite = Tsukiyama, Kimo = Midousuji, Yasuko = Asami, Kai = Riku, Goetia = Dantalion, Taka = Gokudera, Rabbit = Nanashi, Togashi = Toukai, Kuma = Okuni, Caesar = Bill.

_expanding out its empire by degrees - forest covered_

It’s rare that Yosafire ever gave anybody her full attention. Of all the people Dialo knew, with the possible exception of Rawberry, Yosafire had her head in the clouds the most. Besides that, Yosafire didn’t warm up easily to men.

But all Tsukiyama had to do after Dialo introduced them to each other was start talking about the flowers in her vase and their meanings, and suddenly Yosafire was enthusiastically questioning him over the meanings of every flower she could think of. Apparently she’d never heard of flower language before.

“What about blisterleaf flowers?” Yosafire asked.

“Ah, now those are for-” Tsukiyama paused. “I’ve never heard of blisterleaf before.”

“I’ve got one here!” She picked out a bright red flower from her vase. “They’re super pretty, right?”

“Indeed they are,” he replied, “but I can’t say I’ve ever seen one before.”

“Does that mean…” Yosafire’s eyes started sparkling. “Does that mean I get to make up what they mean by myself?”

“No florist on his world would be able to argue with you,” said Dialo, with a shrug. “Why not.”

* * *

After meeting Tsukiyama, Froze pulled Dialo aside at the first opportunity to ask in a hushed voice, “Why did you bring him here?”

“Am I not allowed to have friends come over to visit?” asked Dialo, eyebrows raised.

“That usually doesn’t mean between worlds,” Froze said. “And we’ve never had a human in the village before. It’ll worry people.”

“I appreciate your concern,” said Dialo. “But the fact of the matter is we’re friends and so we’d like to visit each other, and I’ve heard that his world is much more dangerous than mine. Would you prefer I go there?”

“No, that’s… not what I meant.” Froze sighed. “I’ll try not to be too suspicious of him. But Dialo… I don’t have to pretend his suit isn’t hideous, right?”

“He can hear you perfectly well.”

* * *

Macarona was a bit nervous about Tsukiyama, which Dialo couldn’t exactly hold against her. He was, after all, a strange man from another world, and the last time strange men from another world had showed up, a lot of people almost died. Plus Macarona was just a nervous person in general.

“You hiding behind me is a bit ridiculous, though, Macarona,” Dialo said, turning to look behind her.

“I’m not hiding!” Macarona said. “I’m just… staying over here. Yes.”

“There’s no reason to be afraid,” Tsukiyama said, gently.

“You’re more right than you think,” said Dialo. “Macarona is the strongest of my friends, I don’t think even you could stand a solid punch from her.”

She didn’t exactly blame him for not being intimidated by the quivering mess behind her.

* * *

“Rawberry,” said Dialo, with a stern expression.

Rawberry raised an eyebrow at her. “Yeeees?”

“Please don’t try to make my friend eat any bugs.”

“Can’t promise that~” said Rawberry, without hesitation.

Dialo sighed and turned to Tsukiyama, who was looking a bit pale. “I promise she’s not a bad girl. She just… enjoys the taste of strange foods a bit too much, and doesn’t really understand how disgusting they are to other people.”

“No need to worry. I understand completely,” he answered, with a polite smile. “It wouldn’t be the first time someone with good intentions has tried to feed me something I couldn’t stomach.”

* * *

After being introduced to Tsukiyama, Chelan chirped brightly at him, with a big smile on her face.

“‘Nice to meet you,’” Dialo translated for her.

“The pleasure is all mine,” he answered. “I see you and Mademoiselle Dialo are very close?”

That got a nod and a hum from Chelan.

Dialo said, “She wonders how you guessed. That we share a house is one clue, of course.”

“Naturally, but you and I shared a room once, and I doubt I could so easily interpret your intentions without words. How do you do it?” he asked.

“Experience,” Dialo replied. “Body language. Context clues.” Chelan smiled even more widely and chirped again, which made Dialo blush suddenly. “...She says love helps.”

* * *

_they rise to me and i'll blow them down - forest covered_

Normally, Teufel would have been happy to see someone else from her world. Her friends, or even her teachers… even Kcalb’s cats would have been appreciated, though they’d almost certainly be constantly causing trouble.

However, Teufel was sure of two things about this angel: her name was definitely not Macarona, and she was scary as fuck.

Also that the angel had tried to kill her upon their first meeting. That made three things.

“It’s just like a cowardly demon to run and hi~de,” the angel with a resemblance to Macarona (if Macarona was a creepy sadist) said, smirking and watching Teufel cower behind Selenite.

Teufel chose not to address that. “Selenite,” she said instead, voice shaking. “I appreciate the rescue, but… if she’s anything like the friend of mine she looks like, she could pulverize a normal human without breaking a sweat.”

“You have such interesting friends, dolce,” said Selenite, calm to all outward appearances. “Lucky for you, I happen to be interesting myself.”

And that was how Teufel learned that one of her friends could make a giant drill from his arm.

...Somehow, she felt like she needed to apologize to Macarona the next time she saw her.

* * *

_you're the prettiest song i heard - forest covered_

Teufel’s hair falls to her waist when she has it in pigtails. When she has it loose, it’s even longer. This makes it difficult for her to manage on her own.

Normally, Chelan would help her comb her hair. Chelan had a gentle touch even when getting out tangles, and Teufel could just listen to her hum as she worked.

That isn’t an option here. Teufel has a few choices of people to rely on instead.

Her roommates would be the most convenient options. Naturally, she doesn’t even consider letting the twins near her hair. She decides against asking Kimo: they aren’t that friendly, and Teufel’s not sure he would know what to do with a comb.

Yasuko is the obvious choice to ask. Her own hair is immaculate, and Teufel can only hope for the same treatment. While Yasuko’s working on her hair, they chat amiably, rarely interrupted by Teufel wincing from a tangle being combed out.

When Yasuko isn’t available, she turns to Selenite, again someone with an eye for looking flawless. Teufel thought she might have to instruct him on how to deal with longer hair, but he picks up on how to handle it in record time. He does more talking than she does during the long combing process, but she’s content to listen to him go on.

Spending all this time with someone she likes is one of the finest pleasures of having long hair.

* * *

_consoled him recklessly - forest covered_

Playing cliff/shag/marry can be difficult.

“Kai, Goetia, and Selenite?” Teufel scrunches up her face in concentration and tries not to look too embarrassed about the question. “I suppose it depends on whether marrying someone older or sleeping with them is stranger… I guess I’ll sleep with Kai.”

Kai turns a faint shade of pink and says nothing.

“Goetia is much much older than me, while Selenite is only a little older than me, so unfortunately, Goetia, I have to repay your kindness by pushing you off a cliff,” Teufel says.

Goetia waves a dismissive hand. “I’ll survive, don’t worry.”

“That’s a relief,” she replies. “And… Selenite, I have to apologize for trapping you in a loveless marriage.”

Selenite chuckles. “I’m sure it wouldn’t be as bad as you make it seem. There are few people here I’d rather have a loveless marriage with.”

* * *

_do not walk the streets alone tonight - forest covered_

“There’s a cosplayer here to see you, sir.”

Tsukiyama (having his own name back is such a relief) raises an eyebrow. Of all the unexpected sentences to hear… “What are they cosplaying?”

“She’s a devil of some kind, I don’t recognize the character.” The servant looks troubled. “Should I turn her out?”

“No,” says Tsukiyama, too quickly. There’s low odds, but he can’t imagine who else it might be who fits that description. “Please show her inside, I’ll be there in just a moment.”

When he reaches the sitting room, he somehow manages to be surprised, almost stupefied that his first guess was the correct one.

“Hello, Selenite,” Teufel greets him. Her tail swishes gently behind her, like it often does when she’s particularly pleased. “Or, it would be some other name here, wouldn’t it?”

“Tsukiyama,” he corrects, recovering. “It has been by far too long since I’ve seen your charming face, dolce.”

“Tsukiyama is a nice name. Mine is Dialo,” she answers. “Not that far off from what I was given. You can continue to call me random words in languages I don’t understand, of course.”

“I call you only the most complimentary words, I assure you.” Before they get into small talk, however, there’s a question on his mind. “How did you manage to find where I live without knowing my name or having been here before?”

“Good aim and sheer luck,” Dialo replies. “I also asked a passerby if the residence I showed up in front of belonged to a man with purple hair and flamboyant tastes in clothing. If I’d been wrong, I’m not sure how I’d have ended up finding you...”

“...It might have turned out poorly,” says Tsukiyama, quickly following with, “but let us not dwell on such unpleasant things when we have so much catching up to do!”

* * *

_a terrible autonomy - forest covered_

Yonaka once saw her drive, a pink flame on her hand, and called it ‘Storm’.

Taka called it the most destructive of his flames, and Yonaka doesn’t disagree. Destruction isn’t always bad, or even necessarily worse than things like protection and healing. Moge-ko could shield herself. King mogeko could heal. Yonaka imagines either of them coming near her friends and shudders.

Of course she wants to keep her friends safe and sound, and she would do anything for that, with her dying will. But even if she could just protect them, that wouldn’t be enough: her enemies would simply leave to find other girls to torment. The only permanent solution comes through destroying her foes for good.

No one can tell her there aren’t people that deserve to be torn into pieces. Anyone who thinks so is lucky that they haven’t met those people yet. Maybe, if Yonaka’s will is strong enough, they never will.

* * *

_may render me a wreck - forest covered_

Togashi (he’s going to hate answering to that now) is not happy about being tricked into servitude for a supposed Witch. He is even less happy about seeing ---- there, in his ‘new home’.

That that person seems to be a teenager at the moment, however, gives him pause.

“Hi! I’m Rabbit. You look a lot like a friend of mine,” says Rabbit. The name settles in uneasily to replace his missing name. “Aaand, actually, I can’t remember her whole name at the moment, so I figure you’re related somehow! Do you know Misane-chan?”

“She’s my daughter,” Togashi answers without thinking. This is bizarre. At this age, Rabbit definitely shouldn’t know his daughter. “Did you change your appearance to match your maturity, Rabbit?”

“Oh, we’ve met?” Rabbit laughs and shakes his head. “Nope! Misane-chan travelled back in time eight years and we’ve been hanging out! Or we were. I haven’t seen her since I got here.”

That much is a relief. Misane shouldn’t be here. The rest, however, is unbelievable.

“Hey, you know me in the future, right? Are we friends?” Rabbit asks.

“Of course not,” says Togashi. “You’re immature, frivolous and unreliable, you don’t act your age, and you spend far too much time with Misane when it’s completely inappropriate. I don’t like you one bit.” Only after saying that does he remember that he’s talking to a supposed teenager and perhaps should tone it down.

Rabbit doesn’t look hurt at all, though. If anything, his smile gets bigger. “That’s what I figured! Then, I guess we won’t be friends now? Too bad. Oh, but I’ve been here for a while, so if you need anything I can probably help you out!”

Asking help from Rabbit has always been Togashi’s least favorite activity, but this is different, probably. He’s confused and disoriented, so his pride shouldn’t get in the way.

He’s about to ask about where they are when he notices several bandages around Rabbit’s left leg. “You’re injured?”

Rabbit tilts his head to one side. “In a couple places. The bruises on my shoulders are healing pretty well though.” He follows Togashi’s gaze. “That’s from when Kuma asked me to get her a rose near the man-eating plants, and you should know that I don’t run very fast. I thought I was going to lose a foot!”

“And your shoulders?”

“Well, that’s usually how spending time with Caesar ends, with me getting bruised somewhere. Or sometimes with cuts instead of bruises, or both.”

“And you do this regularly?”

“Of course!” says Rabbit, without hesitation.

Togashi has always thought Rabbit was an idiot despite being a genius. This doesn’t quite fit simple idiocy. “Why do you continually get yourself injured?”

“Because it makes other people happy. You know me, so you should get it.” Togashi has seen Rabbit smile before, but he never noticed his eyes being so empty. “I’m trash, so it doesn’t matter how many times I get hurt or how badly. As long it makes someone worthwhile happy, it makes sense for me to keep getting hurt, even if they get bored of me and throw me away after a while. You know, right? You don’t like me either.”

“That’s ridiculous,” says Togashi. “I never said I wanted you to hurt yourself.”

Rabbit shrugs, and Togashi can see the stiffness in the motion. “But it shouldn’t matter to you, because I’m-”

“Would you stop calling yourself trash?!”

Rabbit falls silent, looking more confused than anything else.

Togashi sighs heavily. This is not the way any teenager should behave. This is not what a boy Misane’s age should think of himself. And it doesn’t look like anyone else has intervened.

Dammit. He doesn’t want his fatherly instincts to work on Rabbit, of all people, but he can’t just let this continue without doing something.

“...I’m sorry for what I said earlier. I’d be happy to be your friend.”

Rabbit’s smile looks more genuine already. Togashi hopes he’ll be able to keep it up.

* * *

_bereft of the weight of our summer clothes - yonavlis fashion au_

“You don’t have to wear scarves with everything, you know,” says Yonaka.

Instantly Ivlis’s hackles raise. “Why wouldn’t I?” he says, on the edge of a growl.

“Because too many layers just looks ridiculous,” she says. “And even if scarves go with lots of outfits, you just wear yours the same way all the time. You could at least tie it differently if you’re not going to change it up.”

Ivlis folds his arms across his chest and looks away.

Yonaka sighs, and gently leans up to tug on the scarf around his neck. “I know it’s important to you. But it’s getting kind of worn out. I just want you to look good.”

“...I’ll consider it.”

That’s a small victory. Yonaka will take it.

* * *

_history involved itself - yonavlis high school au_

Yonaka is a decent student. Average. She does well in the track and field club, but her academic grades are fair to middling.

“So tell me again why you want me to tutor you in history class,” says Ivlis, eyebrows raised.

“Because you’re really good at it and I’m just not getting it this year,” Yonaka replies. “It’s your only good subject-”

“Don’t remind me.”

“-so you must have figured out some way to make it easier for yourself. Right?” she concludes.

Ivlis scoffs. “It just naturally comes easily to me!” When Yonaka gives him an unconvinced look, he changes the subject. “Are you sure you don’t just want an excuse to spend more time around me?”

Yonaka turns red. “...Well, that’s not the only reason…”

“Heh. I’ll see what I can do for you.”

* * *

_rotting fast in their sleep of the dead - threetanick college au_

No one sleeps through class with the expertise of Three.

“I’m in awe of how you manage to keep passing without being awake for any of the lectures,” Satanick says, doodling in his notebook.

“The assignments are as simple as a child’s game,” she says. “That’s how you pass while making advances on the girl next to you and not paying any more attention than me.”

“I check in occasionally! Once every five minutes.” Satanick grins like he’s proud of that (he is). “Aaah, but I can’t complain~ If the work was any harder I wouldn’t be able to invite you to the party on Saturday!”

“Pass.” She yawns. “I’d rather stay in bed.”

Satanick opens his mouth.

“Sleeping.”

“Awww...”

* * *

_had no heart so hardened - satanimont pretend-we're-dating au_

“Remind me again what this ridiculous plan is based on,” says Valmont, eyeing Satanick with distaste.

“Weell, you see, Elux is very aggressive about being into me,” says Satanick. “Unfortunately I don’t have any interest in her!”

“Making her the only person you’ve ever met you wouldn’t flirt with,” Valmont says under his breath.

“Exactly! And because of my reputation, she won’t believe a simple ‘no’, so I thought it would be easier to pretend I had a lover who would get upset with me for flirting back!” says Satanick, grinning wide. “So that’s where you come in!”

“And you chose me for this because?”

Satanick shrugs. “You seem picky about little things like that.”

* * *

_her innocence laid on her face - yonafroze modern au_

Yonaka orders the same ice cream every time she comes to Froze’s workplace. Medium size, vanilla with chocolate sprinkles. Every time, and she comes by often.

One day when Yonaka reaches the front of the line, Froze automatically starts making her usual order.

“I didn’t tell you what I wanted, though,” says Yonaka, bewildered.

Froze halts. “I… sorry, you just always get the same thing. What would you like?”

“The same thing as usual, but I didn’t know you paid that much attention to my orders.”

“Well, you do come by fairly often and you are really pre- generous with tips.” Froze goes back to working, mostly so she doesn’t have to look at Yonaka directly.

Yonaka looks even more confused for a moment before starting to blush. “You’re my favorite employee, so…”

Now Froze is the one whose face is heating up. “...Would you like that in a cone?”

* * *

_summer blows away - antai 1bitheart au_

“Your code’s really messy,” says Alto, after glancing over it. “Are you self-taught?”

Meirin puffs up with pride. “Ninety-five percent self-taught!”

Alto nods along. “But your music apps work like a charm, so unless someone else has to debug your app someday, it’s fine.”

“I don’t think anybody else would get involved with my apps, so it doesn’t matter,” says Meirin with a shrug.

“About that… I was wondering if you might want to team up? I’m looking for programmers for my World Tuning app,” Alto says.

Meirin stares in shock. “The legendary World Tuning app? But, why me?”

“Because I need programmers who think and write differently from me in order to come up with the best code possible. You’d be perfect. Anyway,” says Alto, “your music apps are already really good. Even if you don’t have the cleanest code, you have practical experience. You can say no if you want, but I’d like to have you on my team.”

After a few moments, Meirin says, “Send me a friend request and I’ll get back to you on that.”

* * *

_a wicked wind will blow - devil children jjba au_

Good people have good powers, or so Setsuna believed before awakening his Stand. But Spinal Tap is hard to use in any way that won’t cause someone immense pain or kill them outright. Only through practice has he been able to learn to twist people’s backs just a little, enough to get them to stop doing whatever it is they’re doing that he doesn’t like (usually attacking him).

Stands are meant to reflect their users, aren’t they? Setsuna doesn’t know why he’s ended up with this kind of power, but he’ll make the best of it. He doesn’t want to kill people: he just wants to look for his little brother. He doesn’t know why everyone and their dog seems to want to stop him, either, but he won’t allow that to happen.

Still, it bothers him. Where did he get this kind of power from? Did he inherit it…?


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RP fic, long chapter featuring weird robot porn edition.
> 
> Forest Covered name notes: Amaya = Yonaka, Yoshi = Joshua, MTT = Mettaton, Mushi = Ryoji, Aki = Minako, Shiro = Chiyo, Nanako = fem!Defect Mogeko, Hane = Yukari, Centipede = Kaneki, Asad = Razol, Teufel = Dialo, Selenite = Tsukiyama, Kimo = Midousuji, Zhu = Ganondorf, Koi = Baren, Kuma = Okuni, Drinker = Eater, Naomi - Natsuru, Rabbit = Nanashi, Caesar = Bill, Aria = Melody, Linos = Suga, Ame = Shiori. Dylan is an OC.

_ran out to see the future - forest covered_

“For ten yen, a vision into what might have been! A view of the outcome of any single choice if you’d chosen differently! For fifty yen, your life with a different romantic partner! For a hundred yen…”

The spirit selling visions goes on.

Amaya stares intently at them for a few moments, then turns to Yoshi. “Yoshi, you’re my philosophical questions friend. What do you think of this?”

Yoshi, who is still getting used to the words ‘my friend’ being attached to his name, shrugs. “Overpriced.”

“What if it was free?” she asks. “Would you want to look at an alternate timeline, if you’d made a different choice?”

He considers, then shakes his head. “What would be the point? There’s no way to take back your own decisions. All you’d gain from it would be regrets. -Your thoughts?”

“The way I see it, there’s only two ways something could’ve turned out: better than what really happened, or worse. If it would’ve turned out better, then you’re right, you’d just end up feeling bad about the choice you made without having any way to change it. If it would’ve been worse...” She trails off for a moment. “Well, I don’t like horror films already, I don’t need to participate in them.”

“Not every decision is life or death by horror film bloody serial killer,” he says.

“Maybe for some people.”

He scoffs. “You’re exaggerating.”

“Maybe I am. Let’s see.” Amaya approaches the spirit. “Can you just tell me what happens, without actually showing me the vision?”

The spirit considers. “Five yen surcharge.”

“That’s fair,” she says. “What happens if I don’t go in the obviously suspicious Mogeko Castle?”

Eyes shut, the spirit murmurs a few arcane words. Then they crack open one eye. “Pay first.”

“That good, huh.” Amaya digs out fifteen yen and hands it over.

After taking the money, the spirit says, “Your pursuers catch up to you and you’re raped to death.”

Amaya doesn’t so much as flinch. She returns to talk to Yoshi, who says, “That’s only one decision.”

“I’m not made of money,” she replies. “And I’m definitely not going to watch any of them happen to me.”

Yoshi decides not to argue that particular point.

* * *

_made of bones of the branches - forest covered_

Would you bone a skeleton?

“Would I what?” asks Dialo, eyes widening in alarm. “Is that even physically possible? No, don’t answer that. ...It’s rude to ask these questions, but I suppose if there were some way to do it and it was a skeleton I was in a relationship with… honestly, it would still be kind of bizarre to me. At least at first.”

* * *

Would you bone a skeleton?

“Well, it wouldn’t be the weirdest species I’ve boned,” says Yonaka, shrugging. “And in terms of kissing I’d take a skeleton with no lips over a Mogeko any day. Sure, why not, I guess? I don’t really know how skeletons have sex, but I figure that’s probably something skeletons know better than me.”

* * *

Would you bone a skeleton?

Suga’s face goes bright red and he gawks for a few moments, before scribbling down onto a piece of memo paper, ‘I don’t want to talk about this’. After a few seconds, he adds, ‘Or any sex questions, at all’.

* * *

Would you bone a skeleton?

“You say that like we both haven’t already done that.” Eater smirks and flips his hair back. “Boning skeletons depends a lot on what kind of world they’re from. Some have sensitive pelvises and stuff, some can do that magic ghost dick thing, but for most of them it’s good old strap-ons. Never can go wrong with those. Hey, we talking about a specific skeleton?”

Maybe.

“Are they cute?”

Yes.

“Tell ‘em to throw me a bone.”

* * *

_so sweet and hilarious - forest covered_

“Oh, it is December, isn’t it,” says Amaya, in response to MTT’s alarm at not being able to move from his spot. “Do you have mistletoe where you’re from?”

“The plant grows there, yes,” says MTT. He follows her gaze upward: a sprig of the stuff is hanging above them. “But darling, I don’t see how a plant can trap us like this.”

“There’s a tradition that two people caught under mistletoe have to kiss.” She says it calmly enough. “Koriko just enforces that tradition. Here- let me try.”

She leans down and kisses the top of his body, just above his front interface.

He can’t really feel it: one of the downsides of being impervious to attack is that sensitivity goes way, way down. But the gesture is sweet, and when she straightens back up he can see that she’s pink in the face.

“Can you move okay now?” she asks, after a moment.

MTT realizes he’s been stock still, and wheels back a few inches. “As well as ever. Thank you, honey. If we ever find ourselves trapped again, I’ll have to return the favor.”

“You don’t have a mouth,” Amaya says, eyebrows raised.

“Not like this, but for you I’d gladly show off my body and all its extra features.”

She turns even more red. How adorable.

* * *

_too bright for me - forest covered_

Most of the time, when Yonaka has something that can be defined as a ‘sex dream’, it isn’t very nice. But now and again she does have one of the more fun kinds.

They’re not of Ventus. Yonaka’s brain still cannot put him and sex into the same equation, despite the time he spent as her boyfriend. It’s probably for the best.

Sometimes they’re of nobody in particular. These are the least embarrassing: in the morning, no one will be confused at why Yonaka turned bright red when they just walked by. If she had the option to choose, Yonaka would choose these over awkward moments with any of her friends.

Sometimes it’s Aqua. Yonaka feels a little bad about it, especially so soon after her boyfriend disappeared, but Aqua makes her feel safe and loved even in her waking hours. It’s only to be expected that in dreams Aqua would be even more gentle, covering Yonaka with warm kisses while she shivers underneath her.

Sometimes it’s Mushi, who admittedly treats girls like princesses even when he already has a girlfriend. Sometimes it’s Aki, who’s always been kind to her even after she’d done her wrong. Once it was Mushi and Aki at the same time, and that had been incredibly awkward in the morning when she saw them together and could think of nothing but herself pinned between them.

Sometimes it’s Shiro, her best friend. Yonaka knows she’s straight, but her subconscious seems to think that cuddling with her should lead to something more. If Shiro had any interest in women, Yonaka supposes that sex with her would be like this, shy but sweet.

Sometimes it’s Nanako, who she owes her life to and who is of a species she’s actually had sex with before. That has to count for something. Besides which, Yonaka trusts Nanako enough to know that nothing gross is going in her stomach this time.

Once it was MTT, and that led to an entire day spent speculating to herself about whether or not he actually had the system requirements for it. It’s almost definitely rude to think about a friend that way, but it’s easier to consider the practical implications than to dwell on ‘darling’ whispered in her ear in a honeyed, robotic voice.

As embarrassing as these dreams are, and as little as Yonaka wants to talk about them to anyone who stars in them, they’re better than many of her other dreams. She’ll take these over a nightmare anytime.

Unless she has to talk about them. Then the nightmares might be easier.

* * *

_out to surpass the universe - forest covered_

Bad parts about having MTT as a roommate: he’s loud and irritating, has very little sense of personal space, and seems to think the entire room belongs to him and that any of his possessions can go anywhere. Yonaka’s tempted to show him how to pull up floorboards just to convince him that his sixth of the room will fit his stuff in it, and if not, then he has too much stuff.

Good parts about having MTT as a roommate: he doesn’t use up all the hot water.

Their other roommates tolerate him, more or less. Hane’s prone to rolling her eyes at him; Centipede avoids him in favor of going somewhere quieter; Yonaka tries to avoid being around Asad, so she isn’t sure what she usually does. MTT once fished for compliments on his appearance from Dylan, and that had been supremely awkward.

But at least nobody has punched anyone else in the face yet. Could be worse.

* * *

_the endless space inside me - forest covered_

“Do androids dream of electric sheep?” Amaya asks.

“What an oddly specific question,” says MTT. “Why sheep in particular, darling?”

“It’s the name of a book or something. I’m not really sure what the book’s about, but I know it’s famous,” she replies. “Do you dream at all? I know you’re not exactly sleeping when you recharge, but...”

“Something similar. You would have to ask Dr. Alphys about all the fiddly technical details.” MTT waves a hand dismissively. He’s not concerned with how his body works, only that it works to his specifications. “But yes, I have dreams. Usually of things far more glamorous than sheep.”

“That’s lucky.” She falls silent for a few moments.

He makes a logical conclusion. “Your dreams aren’t so stellar, honey?”

“Something like that,” she says.

“You don’t have to fear any longer. With me in your room, you can rest at ease knowing nothing could possibly get you.” He smiles a winning smile. All his smiles are winning ones.

Amaya stays quiet for a second, and MTT is about to say something else when she hugs him. “...Thank you. I don’t think you can help, but… it means a lot.”

MTT scoffs: it’s hard to scoff properly when he’s still being hugged. He thinks of saying something about her doubting him, but ends up petting her hair instead, somehow.

* * *

_a man you knew was falling - forest covered_

MTT is still shaking off drowsiness - he never gets drowsy normally, it must be something that comes from being stabbed to death by a child and then repaired - when Amaya tackles him.

“I was so worried, why would you get yourself killed like that, don’t ever do that again--!”

He pats her shoulder. She’s still clinging to him, shaking. “I didn’t mean to leave you without me for so long, darling. ...How long has it been?” he asks.

She sniffs. “Two days.”

“You’ve gone two entire days without seeing me, no wonder you’re in tears,” he says, hoping she’ll at least glare at him.

She just holds on tighter.

He hesitates to ask, or think about what happened more than he has to, but. “...After all of that, what happened to that human?”

She stiffens against him. “...They’ll probably be back now, if you’re back,” she says, slow and quiet.

She doesn’t need to explain any further. It’s not even that surprising. Just a little bit sad.

(Kill this brat?)

* * *

_feel something other than regret - forest covered_

Amaya can run startlingly quickly when she wants to. One second there’s a teenage boy waving a knife at MTT, and the next he’s on the ground, having been tackled there by her.

The knife is several feet away. MTT picks it up; there’s a bit of blood on it.

There’s also a bleeding injury on Amaya’s arm. She seems not to notice as she picks herself up. “What are you doing, Brother?”

Her brother seems defensive. “I was only-”

“You can’t kill people for talking to me,” she says. “Literally, you can’t, they won’t just let you kill them. You’ll get killed in self-defense first.” She looks to MTT. “Back me up here.”

“If you’d given me a moment longer I would have shown you what a killer robot is really capable of,” he says with a wide smile befitting any villain. The smile drops when he asks, more seriously: “Shouldn’t you bandage your arm?”

She waves her hand, dismissive. “It’s not a big injury, I’ll wrap it up later. Anyway, the point is that you’re a teenage human with a knife and these are not our parents, they’re not going to sit back and die for you. You understand, right?”

“...Yes, of course, sister,” says her brother. He sounds displeased.

“Go back to the employee’s quarters and think about what you’ve done,” she says. “I’ll come see you in a little bit.”

His gaze goes to the knife now in MTT’s hands.

“No, you can’t have your knife back.”

He sighs, and leaves in the direction of the bathhouse.

MTT raises an eyebrow once he’s gone. “You have interesting priorities, darling.”

“Appealing to morals won’t get anywhere who’s that far gone,” she says. “But he’s not completely stupid. If it works, it works. ...Sorry about the trouble.”

Now it’s his turn to be dismissive. “No harm done. I was never in any danger at all.” But if he was, it’s true that MTT would have demolished him, sibling or no sibling. At least Amaya seems to side with him on the subject of her murderous relatives. “Oh, and Amaya, dear?”

“Yes?” she replies.

“Have you considered investing in a leash?”

For some odd reason, that makes her blush.

* * *

_use my hands to use my heart - forest covered_

Teufel doesn’t really like any of her roommates now except for Selenite.

Kimo is irritating and strange, someone she fundamentally doesn’t understand. Zhu worries her: he seems like a man who’s prone to anger and violence. Koi and Kuma... she already knows some of what they’re capable of, and it’s nothing good.

Sleeping in a room full of people she doesn’t trust would be impossible, were it not for Selenite.

She trusts him. Completely. Though she knows he’s physically capable of eating her, should he choose to, she trusts him enough that she would rather sleep nestled under his arm than away from him. The others in her room might not literally eat her, but she doubts their intentions anyway: Selenite is her best friend here, and she’ll easily admit to that.

That’s why the closer she sleeps to Selenite, the better. Even if it’s cuddly. Especially if it’s cuddly.

* * *

Drinker’s pleased by their assigned roommates.

They do change frequently, it’s true. It seems like at least one spot in their room is always revolving with new people coming in and out. But that’s not the most important part of room two.

The important part is that they’re there and Naomi is there. Naomi will always let them cuddle up to her, no matter which one of them it is. At nighttime, on the rare occasions when he’s back in the room and the hour isn’t ridiculous, Drinker sometimes pulls his futon over to sleep next to her, head near her shoulder. In the daytime, Drinker will take naps together with her with her head on Naomi’s stomach. She’s always comfortable to sleep with.

They would make lewd jokes about that, but it’s more enjoyable just to nestle with Naomi and see her smile as she drifts off to sleep.

* * *

After having bad dreams, usually Yonaka slips out of the room entirely, to go sit out in the hallway awhile. But sometimes it’s too early in the morning to risk disturbing everyone, and so she has to make do and try to go back to sleep in her own room.

It doesn’t usually work so well, not unless she takes drastic measures.

She hasn’t talked about this part with Hane: she knows Hane has suffered from nightmares, too, but she doesn’t feel like they’re as close as they could be. Instead she creeps closer to the recharging MTT.

MTT cracks open an eye when she approaches. She doesn’t say anything, just sets her pillow down nearer to him and lays down. He could say something about wanting to be closer to him, but it’s ridiculous o’clock and even he knows not to wake anyone up.

So she gets to sleep.

* * *

Weirdly, Rabbit’s dreams are worse or better depending on where he sleeps in the room.

If he sleeps next to Caesar, his dreams are always worse, bordering on nightmares. He doesn’t blame Caesar for it, of course. They’re friends! Even if they’re friends whose bonding activities usually end up with Rabbit being injured, there’s no way Caesar’s presence alone could give Rabbit bad dreams. So no offense meant to him.

Instead he tries to sleep somewhere near Aria. Not too close, but just in the same general area. Aria’s a responsible adult, he reasons. It’s normal for kids who are far away from home to want to be near an adult who has things under control.

Not that he’s normal in any way, but he does feel a little insecure sometimes in Koriko. It’s probably the likelihood of being eaten if he ever messes up.

Aria probably never gets eaten.

* * *

Linos isn’t close enough to any of his roommates to cuddle. He’s not touchy-feely in the first place. He sleeps in one corner of the room and tries not to inconvenience anyone with his presence.

Sometimes he thinks about cuddling with Ame and turns a bright pink. That would never, ever happen. He shouldn’t even think about it.

Most of the time he just goes to sleep, or attempts to.

Just being in a city full of spirits is enough to worry him and keep him awake some nights. He knows they’re not the same as the ghosts back home, that no one is going to make deals like the Kotori Obake, but he can’t help but be concerned. If anyone made a bargain worse than the one with the Witch...

Maybe he does need someone near him, just to reassure him that they’re safe enough that he can sleep.

* * *

_the state that I'm in, the state of my heart - forest covered_

Yonaka kisses her friend’s cheek.

Chiyo turns a little red, before she quickly pecks Yonaka’s cheek in return. “Th-there!” She’s smiling. (“You’re so cute, Chiyo...”)

Aqua brings Yonaka close to her in a hug, leaning her forehead against hers. “Thank you.” (“You don’t have to thank me.”)

Ryoji pauses, startled and blushing. “Um...” He hesitates a moment more before kissing her cheek. “That’s a friendly thing, right?” (“That’s how I meant it, just a friendly thing.”)

Merciless blinks at her. “I am grateful for the sentiment, but I dislike unexpected physical contact.” (“Sorry, I won’t do it again.”)

Gokudera is bright red. “What’d you do that for?” He pauses for a second before leaning in to smooch her cheek, then quickly retreating. (“Just because I like you.”)

Mettaton smiles wide, not even hesitating to kiss Yonaka’s cheek in return. “There. Treasure that kiss, darling.” (“That feels weird with metal lips.”)

Celty tilts her helmet in a gesture that might be confusion before typing out a response on her PDA. ‘Thank you, I wish I could return the favor.’ (“It’s fine, you couldn’t even feel it.”)

(“I love you so much.”)

* * *

_want this night - forest covered_

“You want me to take your arm off?” Yonaka asks, incredulous.

“So you can lubricate my sockets,” MTT says. “It’s only regular maintenance, nothing to be concerned about. I’d do it myself, but it’s a bit difficult to do with one arm. It won’t take long, gorgeous.”

“...Well, I definitely don’t want you getting rusty...” Yonaka sighs. “I guess you have something on hand for this?”

“Not at all, the Witch took everything I had, remember?” he replies with a chuckle.

“I’m not paying for this. And you can’t use mine,” she says without thinking.

MTT raises an eyebrow. “What would you need lu-”

“LIKE I SAID YOU HAVE TO PAY.”

A few hours later, after her embarrassment has died down, she sits in their room on his futon, with one of his arms on the floor. It was worryingly easy to detach, but he reassured her it’s easy to reattach also, no problem there.

Now she uncaps her bottle and begins spraying the lubricant over the exposed area. It’s clearly not meant to be seen; the metal there is an unpainted grey, and the joint at his shoulder is functional, rather than attractive. ...She resolves not to tell MTT she thought of any part of him as ‘unattractive’.

Speaking of MTT... He’s biting his lip and making soft sounds, and Yonaka stops what she’s doing to ask, “Does it hurt?”

“Not at all,” he’s quick to say. “They’re only a bit sensitive, since they’re not touched much.”

She nods, and continues working, spraying lubricant and smoothing it out gently with a cloth so that it’s more even and doesn’t get on the rest of his shoulder. MTT shuts his visible eye, his remaining hand clenching and unclenching, and and keeps making noises like he’s in pain, or-

Yonaka stops suddenly. “You’re not getting off on this, are you?”

He has the decency to look embarrassed about it. “I honestly forgot what this did to me. I should have told you beforehand.”

“Oh.” She considers this for a second. “You should’ve told me, I could be a lot sexier about it.”

The lubricant will wash off her hand later, she reasons, and the next coat she spreads with her fingers instead of the cloth, slowly. Carefully.

MTT trembles a little underneath her hand. “Are you -- sure, darling?” His voice is interrupted by static.

“I’m positive. Do you not want me to? I can stop.” She pulls her hands away. She’d be the last one to keep going if he didn’t want to.

“Could you do my other arm?” he asks.

She nods. It takes her a moment to find the latches that let her take off his arm, but once she does she set it aside and begins the process anew. Spray a gentle, thin coat of lubricant. Rub over the socket with her fingertips. Listen to him moan. Repeat.

She never thought she’d find the sound of her name mixed with static to be really hot.

Yonaka can’t tell if robots have anything like a climax. He shakes more and more, his voice breaking up, and then he says in something like a wheeze, “That’s enough.” She pulls her hands away at once.

“Want your arms back?” she asks.

“Of course.” He smiles at her, looking tired but content while she reattaches his arms. “I wouldn’t want anyone else to make me feel the way you just did, gorgeous.”

Despite everything that just happened, that’s what makes her blush.

* * *

_no cracks in my heart - forest covered_

“MTT, I know you’re not that comfy, but I want to cuddle anyway.”

MTT grins at that, looking up at her from his seat on his futon. “Of course you do. Who wouldn’t want to spend the evening in my arms?”

Yonaka rolls her eyes. “Is that a yes?”

“Every other fan of mine would be so jealous... I suppose I can allow it for you, darling,” he replies.

She sits down next to him and rearranges herself. She rests her head in his lap, and he immediately bonks into her head with his pelvis. “Ow?!”

“So sorry,” he says, slightly static-y. “Not there, please.”

She looks at where her head just was. There’s a black panel there, innocuous enough, but it must do something if it caused a reaction like that. “Um... what’s that?”

“It’s a touch sensor,” he says. “It’s very sensitive.”

She considers that, then the placement of it on his body, and goes light pink. “Oh.” He pats his knee, but before he can suggest she rest her head somewhere else, she asks, “I-if I’m more gentle, can I... touch you again?”

His body stiffens, like he’d rusted all at once. “...Go ahead.”

Yonaka lightly strokes the touch sensor, just with her fingertips. Even that much makes him tremble, a soft moan rising to his lips. When she rubs a little more firmly, he calls her name, interrupted by a burst of static.

It’s as cool to the touch as the rest of his body, not too much different from the metal surrounding it. She’s curious. “How much can you feel?”

“More than enough,” he says. His fingers have gripped into the pillow, she notices. “Don’t stop.”

“I’m not planning on it.” She keeps stroking him even while she asks her next question. “What I mean is, can you feel different things, or is it just an on/off switch? If I touched you with something else, would you feel different sensations?”

His visible eye is heavily lidded, and he shudders as he replies, “Why don’t we find out?”

It tastes like plastic, which is about the taste she expected, and not particularly a pleasant one. But it’s not much worse than skin, and more importantly his cries are more static than moan now, which she thinks is a good sign. She licks the whole panel, drawing random patterns with her tongue.

He buries his hand in her hair and pushes. Not too hard, but enough to be encouraging. She lets him, her mouth sliding against one half of the sensor, her hand rubbing against the other.

MTT’s body is shaking, and the static coming from his voicebox gets louder and louder. Suddenly he tenses up completely, and after a moment, he lets go of her head. She figures this is a close enough analog for human sex that she should pull away.

After a moment, she says, “I still want that cuddle, by the way.”

He laughs, sounding breathless despite not needing breath in the first place. “Of course, gorgeous. How could I say no?”

* * *

_blessed is the man who waits - forest covered_

“You have a dial on your chest,” Yonaka says. “What’s it for?”

“It’s just a little bit personal,” MTT replies. “Are you sure you want to know my secrets?”

The air of their shared room is heavy with promise. Or maybe it’s just hot tonight. Yonaka nods. “If you don’t mind.”

“Weeeell...” MTT smirks, and leans in to whisper in Yonaka’s ear.

Yonaka blushes and jerks backwards. “Really? You’re not just messing with me right now?”

He holds his hands up in a defensive gesture. “Would I do that?”

“...No, I guess not. You wouldn’t do it like that, anyway.” She falls silent for a few seconds, then asks, hesitating: “Do you... want me to turn it up a little?”

Now he’s the one stunned, though he doesn’t blush. She doesn’t think he can. “--My. If you would like to, gorgeous, I wouldn’t say no...”

She reaches forward and turns the dial to the right a tiny fraction. Somehow, his moan still takes her by surprise, and her hand retreats. “You really weren’t kidding.”

“Not at all,” he says, with a lopsided smile. “That feels wonderful.”

“C-can I move it a little more?”

“Please.”

She watches him more than she watches the dial. His groans get louder the further she turns his dial to the right. His body starts to tremble. It’s easy to get him worked up, and while it should be boring just to turn a knob, she finds him enrapturing to watch.

...Of course, it’s still a little dull, compared to what she expected. So she decides to do something different.

Just before the dial is all the way turned, while he’s shaking and calling her name, she turns the dial back to the left some.

His eye snaps open and he glares at her. It’s not very effective. “What are you doing?”

Yonaka puts on an innocent face. “Is there a problem?”

“That’s the opposite direction,” he says. His voice is wavering.

“Oh, so, you want me to turn it to the right? Got it.” She turns it to the right, slowly, almost all the way... and then stops.

“Amaya!” MTT sounds on the edge of a sob. He reaches for the dial himself, but she catches his hands in hers and holds them still. He’s surprisingly not that strong, physically, for someone made of metal.

“Ye~es?” She can’t hold back her smile now.

“Would you just turn my dial all the way already?” he says.

She smirks. “Say please.”

“...Please.”

She lets go of his hands and turns his dial the rest of the way. His cry of pleasure is satisfying to hear, but probably not as satisfying as it is to finally make.

Afterwards, she turns his dial back all the way to its starting position.

“You’re cruel. I should have realized it far sooner.” MTT’s mumblings would have more effect on her if he didn’t sound so content.

She kisses his cheek. “Sorry, sorry. I won’t do it again without warning you.”

* * *

_and I know how bad it feels - forest covered_

“A giant magnet spirit sounds kind of weird, but I guess they make all kinds these days.” Yonaka sighs heavily. “I’ll punch it in the face for you if you want.”

“Thank you,” MTT wheezes. It’s probably just for effect. “You have no idea what that could do to me. Even rusting would be better than... being corrupted...”

“I bet,” she says. “Don’t worry about it, though. I’ve got some time off, I’ll be your bodyguard for a while.”

He claps his hands together. “My hero, Amaya~ Sacrificing her paid vacation just to protect me!”

“I’d lose my whole job for you if I needed to.” She chuckles, and reaches out to hold his hand.

* * *

_lower now and lower still - forest covered_

Yonaka had done many improbable things in her life, not the least of which was survive all of the events thus far. She had managed to come out in Koriko and not die even once. She made friends with many people, including a robot, who she now called her boyfriend probably maybe?

She had done all these things through sheer stubbornness and determination.

That would be enough to solve this improbable problem for her, too.

“...So okay, I don’t know how we’re going to do this, but if you want to do this, then we’re going to,” she said. Her face was only a light shade of red. “I don’t care what we have to do, if it looks awkward or whatever.”

“You certainly have your mind set on this, darling,” said Mettaton. His smile betrayed no sense of nervousness, but she had the impression that it wouldn’t regardless of whether he was feeling it or not. “I’m up to the challenge.”

She smiled, and kissed his lips gently, a lingering kiss that was no less tender for the fact that one of them was made of metal. He was colder than her, but that didn’t matter. Not right now.

When she leaned back, she said, “I should probably... be wearing less. Yeah.”

“Let me help you with that,” he replied.

So she let him start to undress her. He had deft fingers, easily undoing the bow on her jacket. Then her jacket slipped to the ground, and he began to unbutton her shirt, slowly. Teasing. She shivered.

Once her shirt was undone, he let it drift to the ground. She covered her chest for a moment, then reminded herself it was silly to be self-conscious and forced her hands to her sides.

“They’re not much, but - ow,” she said. He’d squeezed a little too hard with metal hands. “Gently!”

His touch grew gentler. Still firm enough to be felt through her bra, but not enough to hurt this time. It was... nice. Not anything special yet, but nice.

“That’s pretty good... Keep doing that.”

Mettaton smiled, the kind of smile she recognized on him as ‘I am about to do something you’ll enjoy but deny that you want’. He leaned in closer, and whispered in her ear. “You like that, hm? Would you like more?”

She shivered, not from the cold air this time. “Y-yes, please.”

“As you wish.” His tone was soft and silken as he reached to the clasp of her bra. He frowned for a moment as his hands fumbled with it for a moment, but then it was off and he was back to rubbing her breasts again. His body was still cool, but not unpleasantly so.

Yonaka clung to him, holding onto his arm tightly without worries of hurting him or leaving marks. “Me...Mettaton.”

“I love when you say my name like that, gorgeous,” he purred. “Say it again.”

“Mettaton...!” Her voice broke on the last syllable, her whole body trembling.

One of his hands began to wander, playing with the edge of her skirt. He didn’t move to take it off, only to announce his presence there while his other hand continued to rub.

She knew what he was doing. “Mettaton, please...”

“Hmmm~ What is it?” he asked, going still.

Yonaka swallowed. “Could you... please take off my skirt?”

“Of course, dear, you only need to ask.” He dragged the skirt down her legs, and she stepped out of it while her legs still had strength in them.

Then his hands were back, on her legs above her stockings, on the inside of her thighs. One metal finger slid inside her underwear and tested for wetness.

He found more than she would have guessed before this all started. It wasn’t his hands so much, or the feel of his hard body against hers, but his words whispered in her ear and all his attention focused on her.

His hands were still harder than a human’s, but he knew that and was careful and gentle as he rubbed, staying outside of her. For a moment she thought she might be the one running on electricity, just from the shocks he was sending up her spine.

He was almost too gentle, though. Instead of asking him to move - she didn’t trust her voice - she grabbed onto his hand and guided it where she needed it to be.

“So forceful,” he murmured. She could feel his smile even without looking at it. “Do I feel that good?”

She opened her mouth to answer. Only a moan came out.

“That’s what I thought you’d say.”

Yonaka’s eyes were tightly shut as he continued to move. Slow and steady. In and out, and then in circles, and then back in again. Her body was shaking and she might have fallen without him to hold her up.

She didn’t know how long it took before she gave herself over completely to the pleasure, only that after she recovered enough to pull his hand away from too sensitive parts, he set her gently down on top of the futon.

“How was that? Everything you’ve dreamed of?” he asked, smiling wide. She answered that by looping her arms around his neck and pulling him down on top of her for another kiss.

When she pulled away, she asked, “How can I do something for you?”

Mettaton blinked, almost comically. As if he hadn’t expected this to be turned around on him. “Well, if you want to... There is one thing you might try.”

“I want to,” she said. At this moment she didn’t care what it was.

His smile grew a little gentler, and he unlatched the compartment in his chest, the one holding a pink heart. His heart. “Be careful, now. It’s just a little delicate.”

She reached out, fingertips brushing against it, and startled back at his moan. A look at his expression confirmed that it wasn’t pain he was feeling, and she reached out again, gently stroking the length of it.

Not so strange. Not so hard. Just touching her boyfriend’s heart to give him rapturous pleasure, that was perfectly normal.

And if it wasn’t, well, she didn’t care one bit. Not while hearing her own name on his lips in that voice.

Her other hand reached for one of his hands and gently grasped hold of it. She could feel him trembling down to his fingertips, and it made her only more determined.

It was soft and warm under her hand, nothing like the rest of his body, but so unmistakably him that she felt that this was a lot more intimate than what he’d just done to her.

Yonaka kissed him again, not letting go of his hand. He kissed her back, shaking still and groaning into the kiss.

She knew when he was done because he caught her hand and pulled it away from his heart. She sat back, watching him fumble to latch the compartment shut again, and when he was done she pulled him to her.

“Sleep with me tonight?”

“Our roommates will be annoyed,” he said, chuckling. “I would love to.”

* * *

_are my edges sharp - ivlis/yonaka psl_

Yonaka has blunt teeth. Weak. Harmless, like so much about humans.

She makes up for that with enthusiasm.

Yonaka sinks her teeth into Ivlis’s neck and it stings. It won’t really hurt, won’t leave more damage than a mark he’ll just cover up with a scarf later, but a primal demon part of him reacts to pain with ‘hell yes’. He hisses, and she takes that as approval to continue.

He can’t leave bites on her skin with his fangs, not safely, but that’s fine with her: she’d much rather be the one making him moan from pain and pleasure.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forest Covered name notes as usual: Teufel = Dialo, Selenite = Tsukiyama, Centipede = Kaneki, Tempus = Papyrus, *Phonic = *Hyun-ae, MTT = Mettaton, Hane = Yukari, Amaya = Yonaka, Aneko/Naomi = Natsuru, Asad = Razol, Drinker = Eater, Aria = Melody, Rabbit = Nanashi, Caesar = Bill, Samael = Seth, Koharu = Makoto, Mirage = Jace, Tsadi = Aleph, Serif = Sans, Ame = Shiori, Linos = Suga, Ewen = Celty, Nodoka = Shizuo, Hane v. 2 = Manami, Grit = Frisk, Trip = Monster Kid, Hime = Onoda, Erdi = Lobco, Violet = Patchouli, Killer = Merciless, Eve = Elizabeth, Schneewittchen = Weiss, Tsukuru = Hajime, Spooky = Napstablook.

_took every chance to leave - forest covered_

Frustration is the word of the day, and the week, and the month, and the year.

Teufel has been in Koriko for a long time. She doesn’t travel much - at all, really - so she can’t compare it to any vacation she’s taken, but she’s been in Koriko for more than a year now, and in many ways she’s sick of it. The movie selection hasn’t changed for half a year at least, and it didn’t get much better when it did. The sights are largely the same. Only the people change, friends rotating out and strangers rotating into their rooms.

She could go home at any time, probably, or so she thought based on the vagueness of her debt. To learn more about other worlds. That sounded voluntary, didn’t it?

Maybe the Witch read it differently, and now Teufel’s stuck.

Koriko is not all bad, but she misses home, and Chelan, and knowing that the friends she’s made won’t suddenly disappear one day, having headed to their own homes or suffered some worse fate. She misses security.

But this is what she signed on for. It’s too late now to complain.

She’ll complain anyway, just out of the Witch’s earshot.

* * *

_sturdy lonesome gait - forest covered_

“Selenite,” Centipede starts upon catching sight of him, and then stops. His gaze flicks upward. “And Teufel.”

Teufel, currently sitting on Selenite’s shoulders, smiles down at him. “Hello, Centipede. How are you?”

“Just fine, thanks.” Centipede raises an eyebrow. “Couldn’t you just fly if you needed the extra height?”

“I could, but it’s awkward to fly around just because you want to look someone in the eye,” she replies. “Besides, this is more fun.”

“And I was quite willing to give her a boost at her request,” Selenite adds with a grin.

“This is awkward in a different way,” says Centipede.

“That’s your fault for being short,” says Teufel, snickering. “If you were at my level, then things would be completely normal.”

Centipede doubts that it would ever be normal to have a conversation with someone sitting on someone else’s shoulders. “I’d have to be over six feet.”

“It’s doable,” says Selenite, who is ridiculously tall for a Japanese man anyway. “If you drink enough milk.”

“Is that how you managed to grow so tall?” Teufel asks, looking downwards. “I’ll have to try.”

“Ah, you might find yourself not quite reaching six feet even with a change in diet, dolce.” Selenite chuckles. “But rest assured that your current height suits you just fine.”

“I can’t tell whether I should be mad or not. You’re in prime noogie position, you know.”

“Oh no, whatever shall I do?”

To Centipede, seeing Selenite this genuinely affectionate with someone is weird. They’re like a gross couple who haven’t learned to tone down the PDA, just without the kissing part.

“Are you going to do this all day?” he asks, finally interrupting them.

“Until we get bored of it or he gets tired, most likely,” Teufel replies. “Why, did you want a turn-?”

“No thanks.”

* * *

_broken heart don't feel so bad - forest covered_  
There is a skeleton outside the Witch’s office door, holding a bouquet of roses.

Specifically, that skeleton is Tempus. *Phonic recognizes him from her database, and also sincerely hopes that a limited number of people are attempting to woo the Witch, and an even more limited number of skeletons.

Not that the problem is that Tempus is a skeleton. The problem is that the Witch is clearly uninterested, and that *Phonic may have gotten the idea into his head that she’s just being tsundere for him...?

She really doesn’t want the Witch to punish her for that. So far she hasn’t, but you never know!

So she swoops in, catching Tempus’ attention. “Hello! Are those for the Witch?”

Tempus nods, smiling bright. “They are! I have been informed that roses are the most essential flower when it comes to romancing humans! And - I assume she’s a human?”

*Phonic isn’t sure either, but she’s not one to make presumptions. “Close enough, I think. She’s very hard at work right now, so why don’t I take those for you and give them to her later? That way you can go back to work.”

“Hmm... Wouldn’t it be more meaningful to give them to her myself?” he asks.

“Well, maybe, but-” Think, *Phonic. “-you’re supposed to be doing work right now, and she won’t like it if you take off work just to bother her.”

“You’re right!” Tempus pushes the bouquet of flowers into her hand. “Give her my regards! I’ll go back to my cool job, but she can come see me whenever the burning desire strikes her! Nyeh heh!”

He leaves, with *Phonic staring after him.

What is she going to do with these flowers now?

* * *

_deafening silence and stopped emotion - forest covered_

The door to Yonaka and MTT’s room opens, like it often does when Yonaka’s in there. Hane stands in the door way, one foot in the room.

“Hey,” she says. “Are you two... busy?”

“He’s just listening to my heartbeat,” Yonaka says with a sigh. It doesn’t much disturb MTT, who is laying with his head on her chest. “It’s not what it looks like. You can come in and do whatever.”

MTT waves a dismissive hand. “I realize it’s difficult not to be enraptured by my every action, but please, try to go about your business.”

Hane grumbles something, but comes inside. “I really don’t know why you put up with him.”

“This isn’t so bad,” Yonaka says, instantly. “I mean, apparently monsters don’t have heartbeats and neither do robots, so it’s totally innocent and getting weirded out by it would just be silly.”

“It’s getting faster,” says MTT. “Does my presence excite you so-?”

Yonaka covers his mouth with her hand. “You’re right, I don’t know why I put up with him either.”

* * *

_fall in love and fall apart - forest covered_

It’s rare for Teufel and Selenite not to be close to each other if they’re in the same area, particularly if they’re in their shared room. Especially when it comes to sleep - Selenite has taken it upon himself to guard Teufel from their roommates, and Teufel appreciates his help in allowing her to get a peaceful rest.

Right now, however, they’re on opposites sides of the room, not looking at each other. Occasionally one of them will glance the other’s way, before jerking back to stare at the floor or something else, something they weren’t just magicked into believing they were dating.

This lasts for quite a while.

Eventually, Teufel breaks the silence. “...So. That happened.”

Selenite coughs. “So it did.”

“I’m glad it was with you if it was with anyone,” Teufel admits. “I can’t imagine what it would have been like if I’d been paired with one of our other roommates.”

Selenite imagines her with one of the twins and shudders. Then he imagines himself with one of them. “Believe me, you are by far much more tolerable to spend time dating than most other workers on this island. I only wish we hadn’t...”

Now Teufel’s the one to cough, staring at the ceiling. “Right. Of course. ...First time?”

“No,” he admits. “Was it yours?”

“...Yes, but at least it could have been worse.” Her face is red as she admits this, and he feels his own face heating up as well.

“Dolce, if there is anything I can do-”

“Don’t blame yourself,” she says. “It wasn’t your fault, and I didn’t suffer or anything. I’m sure Chelan will understand.”

Chelan sounds like a very understanding and patient girlfriend, from how Teufel has described her. “...If you’re certain.”

“...If you’d like to apologize to anyone,” she adds, after a moment, “you might want to apologize to Centipede.”

Selenite startles a little. “Ah- But I’m certain he has no interest, there’s no reason he would-”

“That’s not what I mean,” Teufel says. She looks back up at him, a nervous smile on her face. “What I mean is that I made a sexual joke about you eating me and I think I may have permanently scarred him.”

He stares at her for a moment. “...That must have been horrifying for him.”

“I imagine it’d be too much information for anyone, let alone Centipede,” she replies. “I don’t know what I was thinking. Love makes you make inappropriate jokes, I suppose.”

“So it does.” He’s finally starting to relax. “Well... If anything, I’m glad it wasn’t worse. But, I may have to have a talk with Madame Witch about allowing these sorts of things to go on.”

Teufel seems to be easing up, as well. “Please do. If I wanted to make a habit of dating you, I’d just ask you out now.”

A small silence.

“Which I’m not going to do.”

“Oui, of course.”

* * *

_could see farther than anyone - forest covered_

Teufel doesn’t sleep in very often. She’s a baker, which means she’s usually awake at four in the morning, just to give her enough time to get ready before work.

Selenite’s a light sleeper, but Teufel’s usually careful not to wake him, and so that means she’s already gone when he wakes up.

Sometimes, on days off from work, Teufel permits herself to sleep in. Not often, because she doesn’t want to ruin her sleep schedule. But sometimes, she sleeps in enough that Selenite is the first one awake.

He takes the opportunity to just look at her, curled up peacefully by his side, covered by her wings. At her most comfortable, her tail might be gently curled around his arm.

She’s smiling in her sleep. Everything about her body language suggests that she feels safe and at peace, and Selenite knows it’s because she trusts him to protect her.

He’s glad to take a few moments to enjoy that feeling, before he has to leave to start his day.

* * *

_sullied by a dream - forest covered_

“Selenite,” Teufel says, in the tone of voice that lets Selenite know her patience is running thin, “you’ve been in the shower for an hour now. Get out.”

“Has it really been so long?” he answers, and hopes his voice doesn’t quiver. “I’ll be out momentarily, not to worry!”

The water is freezing cold, and unpleasant, but at least it should have done its job by now. He doesn’t feel completely calm, but at least calmer than he did after having... that kind of a dream.

He’s been in a room with five other people for far too long.

Selenite shuts the water off and dries himself off. For modesty’s sake, he redresses before leaving the bathroom, and tries not to shiver visibly when he leaves. “Forgive me, I couldn’t find the right shampoo.”

Teufel stares at him for a moment, and touches his hand gently. The gesture warms him a little even after the cold shower. “You’re freezing. Why would you take a cold shower in the middle of November?”

“Ah... well...” He doesn’t immediately have a defense for that.

She sighs, and looks away from him. “There are empty rooms upstairs if you need to take care of business. You don’t need to subject yourself to that-”

He chokes. “That isn’t it at all!!”

There is absolutely no way he’s discussing this topic with Teufel, particularly after a dream like that.

If it had just been her, it would have been mortifying. If it had just been Centipede, it would have been more so. But the both of them together...

His face is turning red again. That shower was no help at all.

* * *

_take it only if you boldly cannot take it - forest covered_

“So, MTT.” Yonaka sits in their shared room, legs crossed underneath her. “Do you only have those two forms, or do you have any more?”

“The forms you’ve seen aren’t enough for you, darling? You want to get even more of me? I can’t blame you,” MTT replies, chuckling. After a moment, he stops, and considers. “Well... I do have one more form.”

“Can I see it?” she asks.

“So sorry, but... I’d rather not use it if I don’t have to,” he says. “You’ll just have to understand.”

“I get it.” Yonaka smiles a tiny smile. “It’s not as pretty as your other shapes, is it?”

MTT gasps in offense. It’s entirely for effect. “All of my forms are absolutely beautiful! I can’t believe you would even imply that.”

“Sorry, sorry.” She holds her hands up, still smiling. “So if that’s not the reason, then what is?”

“Hmmph.” He looks away. “That form... is entirely for the purpose of exterminating humans.”

Her smile fades away. “Oh. ...I can see why you wouldn’t want to bring that one out, even to show me.”

A nod. “You’ll simply have to take my word for it. It’s as gorgeous as I always am, but I’d prefer to keep it in reserve. Only for emergencies, you see.”

“I hope you never have an emergency like that,” she says, and leans against him. “At least, you won’t have an emergency like that because of me.”

“Of course not, dear.” He pulls her a little closer to his side. “If you ever made me bring out NEO, then something has clearly gone terribly wrong.”

“NEO, huh?” Pressing her face against his shoulder, she says, “With a name like that, I’m sure it’s cool.”

“Naturally, it’s cool. It’s me.” He doesn’t sound quite as confident about it as usual.

“...But you don’t like using it. Alright. I’ll stop talking about it.”

* * *

MTT meets them in the outskirts of the island, just where the grass meets the sand.

At first he doesn’t notice the difference in her, only that she’s wearing an unusual hat, a bright yellow one with ears and the inklings of a face. “Amaya, there you are! I’ve been looking all over for you. You haven’t been back to our room in days, and...”

Then he picks up on the smell. MTT can smell, just not very well. So a scent has to be particularly strong for it to reach him.

This scent is of blood.

‘Amaya’ looks at him with dull eyes and says, “She is not here.”

“...What?” he says, because there isn’t much else he can say to that.

“The girl you’re looking for is not here.” They lift the knife Amaya always carries; it’s bloody. “She broke. I am here instead.”

He’s silent for a moment. “What did you do to her.”

“Nothing she would have minded,” they say, still perfectly calm. “There were hardly enough pieces of her left when I found her to mind anything.”

“You...” He’s out of words. Out of flash and stage smiles. Even the last time he tried to kill a human, he was doing it with an eye for his audience.

This is completely different.

“You’re not really human, are you?” he asks, reaching for a switch he never presses, one finger hovering over it.

“No,” they say, impassively.

“I thought not. Then, I won’t feel any regrets for this.”

They say nothing. MTT flips the switch.

The change is a little less than glamorous, but that’s what the smoke billowing around him is for - and even if they could see through it, MTT doesn’t care what they think now. He’s too consumed with anger.

How dare they. How dare they do that to any human, but especially, how dare they do that to Amaya. Amaya, his very favorite of every human on the island. Amaya, who no matter what anyone says, is not - was not - broken.

MTT NEO stands on the island beach and waits for his enemy to make a move.

They watch him, their eyes as dull as ever, and say, “Do you honestly believe that you can defeat me?”

Do they honestly believe it matters? “Of course I do. I’ve never been defeated like this.”

Finally, they give him the hint of a smile. “Then let us see if I will be the first.”

* * *

_raise a glass to turnings of the season - forest covered_

There’s one thing about MTT that is both a blessing and a curse. Actually, several things are like that, including his healthy self-confidence and his stunning good looks, but one of those things is: he can’t get drunk. Alcohol does absolutely nothing for him.

Which is why he’s completely sober as Amaya, smiling, her face flushed, leans all over him, practically sitting in his lap. There’d been alcohol provided throughout the building, only among the adults of course, but Amaya seems to have had more than her fair share.

“No tolerance for drink, darling?” he asks, smiling back like it doesn’t bother him one bit how plastered she is. Truth be told, it is a little concerning to him how quickly she got drunk, and how affectionate she is when drunk. But that seems like her own problem to deal with, and if she thinks it’s fine, then it’s fine with him, too.

Amaya smiles a wobbly smile up at him. “I’m totally fine. Probably, maybe. Only a little tipsy.”

“You, dear, are completely drunk, and I know this for a fact. I’ve seen drunk people on television, so you can trust me.” Maybe he hasn’t been around people who’ve actually been drinking before, but he’s seen enough of it in shows, so he’s clearly educated enough on the topic. “What possessed you to drink this much in the first place?”

She shrugs her shoulders. “Mostly just feelings of being a totally average human high school girl with no redeeming values or special features. Crying a lot. Stuff like that. It’s not the first time, either.”

“Ah.” He pets her hair lightly. “You know that being human is a wonderful quality to me, don’t you? And you are my very favorite of the humans that I’ve met, so far. That must make you worthwhile, if the great MTT is fond of you, doesn’t it?”

Her smile gets bigger. “Thanks, MTT. You’re sweet sometimes, when you’re not being an asshole instead.”

“Don’t make me take all that back, dear.” He can chalk it up to being intoxicated: she clearly doesn’t mean what she’s saying.

“Okay,” she agrees. “Hey. You know that thing, that you did, that one time? When you scared the shit out of me? Remember?”

He thinks there’s only one incident between them that falls under that inelegant description thus far. “I remember.”

“You promised not to do it to me unless I begged, and I’m not gonna beg, not even when I’m drunk, but...” She thinks about it for a second. “If I do it to you, is that okay?”

MTT blinks a few times. It’s entirely for effect. “Well - is that okay? You were the one with a problem with it in the first place.”

“I’m fine with it if I have a warning,” she says, and tries to knock him over. It’s a messy attempt, and doesn’t do much of anything to him with him being so much heavier than her, but he obliges her and lays on his back so she can crawl over him.

“This would be much more romantic if you weren’t completely drunk at the moment,” he says, with a soft chuckle.

“It’s not supposed to be romantic,” she says slowly, as if talking to someone very stupid. “It’s supposed to be sexy. It’s a sex thing, MTT, duh.”

“Aaah.” It’s not sexy to him right now either, but he’s going to have to learn to differentiate the two if he wants to keep getting the right reactions out of her. “Of course, I knew that.”

“Course you did,” she says, and rests her head on his chest. He waits for her to say something else, and after a moment, nudges her in the side. She’s passed out now, completely unconscious.

That would have been much better sober, he thinks, and picks her up in his arms to tuck her into her own bed. “Goodnight, sweetheart. I hope your hangover doesn’t make you unreasonably grouchy in the morning.”

(It does, but it’s her own fault, so he doesn’t feel bad for her.)

* * *

_cannibal kings - forest covered_

Dialo is not the sort of person to ask for much. She does not pray, nor rely heavily on her god for favors.

So when she makes a simple request: “I’d like to have my friends over for dinner, please,” and looks at them with genuine hope in her eyes, how can Etihw say no?

* * *

Kaneki gingerly pokes the steak on his plate with a fork. “...When you said ‘have us over for dinner’, I thought you meant ‘have us over around dinnertime’, and not…”

“I said what I meant,” Dialo says. “Don’t play with your food. I don’t know about your world, but it’s considered rude here.”

Tsukiyama looks a bit unsure himself. “It smells delicious, but, dolce, how exactly did you get a hold of it?” he asks.

“I asked Etihw to make it,” she says. “It should have the same consistency and everything as humans without having been through the ‘actual person’ stage. There’s barbeque sauce if you can stomach that, by chance.”

“Unfortunately not,” Tsukiyama says, starting to relax. “Well, if that’s all it is, then I should praise you on your creativity and resourcefulness. Bon appetit!”

As Tsukiyama begins to cut his steak apart, Kaneki is still hesitating. “It isn’t strange for us to eat this in front of you?”

“It’s just meat,” Dialo replies. “Nobody was harmed in the process of cooking it. I don’t have an issue, except that you’re letting it get cold. Eat.”

A small smile appears on his face. “Yes, ma’am.”

Dialo waits for him to start eating before beginning on her own, less human-based food.

It’s hard to explain, but the kind of feeling you get from cooking for someone and sharing a meal with them really can’t be replicated in any other way.

* * *

_now we've seen your powers - forest covered_

The Witch squints at her cookies.

They have not come out exactly like the pictures on the recipe; too lumpy. They’ll probably taste just as good... maybe. It’s her first time trying out this recipe, so she isn’t completely sure.

She could use magic to straighten them out, she knows. They could be picture perfect with just one wave of her hand. She could use magic to make them utterly delicious, too.

But... Aneko didn’t have the benefit of using magic to make that cake for her. Using magic herself to return the gift seems a little like cheating. And the Witch only cheats occasionally, mostly when getting people to sign contracts.

So lumpy chocolate chip cookies, it will have to be. She doesn’t think Aneko will mind too much.

* * *

_the beast will arrive in time - forest covered_

Sometimes MTT realizes he doesn’t have as good a handle on Amaya’s personality as he thinks he does.

For example.

He’s seen Amaya mad before. He’s seen her trip over a diary he left out in the room, which clearly was not his fault, she should have been paying better attention to where she was going, but when looking at her skinned knee he can’t exactly blame her from cursing creatively at him. He’s not sure why she’d rather have a Tamagotchi than him, since he doesn’t know what one of those is, but he gets the feeling he’s supposed to be incredibly offended. He would be, if wanting anything over him wasn’t just a ridiculous notion in the first place.

So he’s seen Amaya mad before, and he’s heard Amaya yell before, but this is-

Only instinct drives him to grab her arm, the one on the side with the knife. She doesn’t let go of the weapon, only turning her head enough to glare at him. Her eyes are cold. Almost dead, he thinks.

“Let go of me.”

She doesn’t raise her voice. Her voice reminds him of, of the time he went to Snowdin for a glamorous tour, and ended up covered in snow with some even getting in his wires, and that had been enough to make him shiver, exactly the way that he’s shivering now.

“Let go of me,” she repeats, no more loudly. She pulls away from him but can’t get out of his grip. “I’ll kill them.”

“I know you will,” MTT replies, because in this moment he has no doubt that she can and will do it if he lets go of her. “But really, let’s resolve this some other way, shall we?”

Her face twists into a scowl, but she stops pulling. “They hurt you.”

“I remember, darling.” And he can’t say he’s thrilled about the incident either, but those were different circumstances. “But I can defend myself, if it comes down to that again. You don’t need to worry a bit.”

Finally, a little more light comes into her eyes. “...I’m holding you to that, okay.”

He lets go of her arm, and she hesitates before returning her knife to her belt.

...Really, humans can be so complicated. Or maybe it’s just her he doesn’t understand.

Well. At least she has him now, to keep her from doing anything rash.

* * *

_when the world looks back - forest covered_

MTT knew he would regret picking Truth, especially after it was explained to him that “Truth or Dare is sacrosanct, you can’t wiggle out of it and if you do I’ll make you wish you hadn’t,” but he thought he could handle any question Asad threw at him. She didn’t know him that well, after all.

He was wrong.

“What do you hate about yourself?” she asked, a big smile on her face.

He paused, and blinked for effect. “Hate... about myself...?”

“Dislike most. Whatever.” She set her chin in her hands and said, “Well?”

“Don’t try to get out of it with some answer like ‘I hate that I’m so perfect’ either,” said Amaya. It seemed this was a rare incident where she was cooperating with Asad. “Actual flaws.”

“Darling, you know I’m flawless from head to toe,” he scoffed.

Yonaka started reaching for a bucket of water she’d prepared earlier. “Do you really want me to-”

“But!” he said, too quickly. “I may have some regrets.”

“Guess those count,” said Asad. “Go on.”

Anything besides the bucket. He hated to admit this, especially when it seemed that everyone in the room was paying close attention, but he didn’t relish the thought of having his arm dunked in that. “I do... have a tendency to forget people who have helped me on my way to the top. Once I cure myself of that, I’ll be completely perfect.”

A snort of laughter from Hane’s direction, a louder chuckle from Amaya, and even Centipede shook his head while smiling.

“Keep telling yourself that,” said Asad, grinning. “Right, it’s your turn now.”

* * *

_save yourself from recognition - forest covered_

Naomi sees Drinker tearing into a plate loaded up with all kinds of food, steak to sweets, and says, “I guess you’re not a picky eater...”

“Nah, I’m really no-” Drinker stops suddenly.

“...Are you okay?” she asks, head tilted. “I didn’t mean to say you were fat-”

He lets loose a long and inventive string of curses that makes Naomi wince, ending with “-goddammit that’s my name.”

“I’m sorry?” she says, because surely he doesn’t mean-

“Eater. Is my real name.”

A silence between the two of them.

“That’s just as terrible as your work name.”

“Yeah, I know.”

* * *

_grace is wasted in your face - forest covered_

The moment the words ‘robot fucker’ reach Amaya’s ears, her entire face goes bright red. It’s hard to tell if that’s from embarrassment or anger.

“Th- y- as if that’s any of your business?!” She takes a step forward to try and punch the offending person (Asad) in the face.

Hane catches her by the arm before she can make the fight physical. “Don’t bother with her,” she says, although she probably would to the same thing if it had been her sex life in question.

“I never said that was a bad thing.” Asad is grinning now. “You’re way too sensitive.”

“Shut up!” Amaya says, and then to Hane, “Let go of me, I’m totally calm!”

Hane just raises her eyebrows. “No you’re not.”

“...Okay, I’m not calm, but I really want to sock her in the face right now, so please?” Amaya asks.

“That’s not really convincing me I should let go, sorry.”

* * *

_for super reproduction - forest covered_

It’s strange enough that both MTT and Amaya don’t return to the room by the time the rest of their roommates are going to bed. Hane’s a little concerned, but at least their names are still on the door, so neither of them have disappeared for good. Of course, something could have happened to them temporarily, but there’s not much she can do about that based on one night of them not coming back for one night of sleep.

They’re back in the morning. She’s there when they walk in: Amaya wearing the clothes she’d been wearing the day before, but considerably more wrinkled, and smelling faintly like oil. MTT is in his boxier form and swaying a little as he rolls in.

Hane is about to say something when Asad beats her to it. “Congratulations on the sex.”

Amaya turns a bright red, but says only, “...Thanks?”

“Why thank you, gorgeous, you’re too kind.” MTT radiates smugness.

Hane’s just glad they did that somewhere other than their shared room.

* * *

_script out the rest of your life - forest covered_

After a moment of laying back with nothing else happening, Yonaka nudges MTT with her foot. “Um, could you...”

“I said before I’d only do that again if you begged me to,” he replies, with a sly smile. “And I keep my promises, darling.”

She flushes a little - mostly at the idea of begging, because no - and sits back up. “I’m not going to beg you for it. I’d rather find some other way to do this than beg.” She reaches for his face, strokes his cheek. “You’re capable of lots of ways, right? Forms. Positions. That’s also what you said.”

His grin only gets wider. “Would I lie to you?”

(They end up in an awkward sprawl, her hands gentle around his heart and his fingers vibrating just inside of her, more sitting next to each other than anything else, but Yonaka is smiling when she comes down and throws her arms around him with an intensity of affection that makes him smile, too.)

* * *

Yonaka realizes after a couple moments on her back why nothing more is happening, and pulls herself up without the reminder. “Thanks for still honoring that agreement, by the way.”

“It’s nothing,” he says. “I would hate to lose your trust.”

She smiles and pecks him on the lips, more gentle than the rest of their kisses this evening. “You’re sweet.”

“Aren’t I?” he replies, and pulls her in for a deeper kiss.

(They end up with him between her legs, and then her between his, but still not a position that sends her into alarm. It’s a good time.)

* * *

The idea comes to her when he’s worked up, his fan blowing overtime to try and cool him down, and she can’t say it doesn’t appeal to her to be a little mean.

She lays back. He automatically moves to follow her, and then stops midway, just enough to loom but not enough to break the rules of their agreement.

Nothing happens. His fan continues to whirr. She thinks she sees him tremble a little.

“Really do appreciate you following that promise,” she says, with a chirp in her voice.

With gritted teeth: “It’s. Nothing.” He sits up, and she watches him suffer for a few more moments before finally rising to follow him.

“...So, would you lay back for me? I won’t make you beg.”

(Her above him lets her watch his face, and him watch hers, and it’s comfortable even with her sitting on top of metal. She apologizes later for teasing him so much, but also says it’s what he gets for being a tease to her out of bed. He agrees.)

* * *

A number of times they don’t even make it to the floor. She’s light, he’s strong, and the walls are fairly sturdy, bypassing the position problem altogether.

(She jokes about his impatience. He jokes about hers. They come to the agreement that neither of them are very good at waiting.)

* * *

And then, finally, that impatience comes to a head, and when all her pulling isn’t enough to give him the hint-

“Please,” she says.

“Please what?” he asks.

Her face turns even more red, if that were possible. “You know what I mean.”

“How can I be sure? If we had a misunderstanding now, oh, I just couldn’t bear it.” There’s a glint in his eye. “Why don’t you be more... explicit?”

Yonaka looks away, and says, in the most level voice that she can currently manage, “Please get on top of me and fuck me until I can’t walk right in the morning.”

His visible eyebrow meets his hairline. “...Well, that wasn’t very good begging, but I’ll give you points for explicit.”

He joins her on the bed, and she wraps her arms around his shoulders and pulls him even closer.

(When it’s something she wants, it’s something she wants badly, and he’s all too happy to oblige her.)

* * *

_bride of all unquiet things - forest covered_

Aria normally has no issue with Rabbit. He’s certainly a much better roommate, personality-wise, than Caesar or Samael, and probably also moral fiber-wise. Koharu is fine, but doesn’t act her age and hates to be reminded of that. Mirage is quiet, and a shut-in, and she doesn’t have much of a read on him just yet.

Rabbit is a sweet kid, by all accounts, if one who has a terribly low opinion of himself. She definitely doesn’t consider him to be garbage or trash or any of the other things he calls himself. She’d like to look out for him.

If there’s just one issue she has with him, it’s this: he sings in the shower.

Not even badly singing. He’s actually pretty good. But if Aria ever tries to sleep in past him, she’ll be able to doze only until the water starts running.

Then it’s all “Tell me why I get the shivers~ On your site, what should I do~?” at top volume. He doesn’t seem to have adjusted to rooming with other people, at least not in this aspect, and he certainly doesn’t have any concern for people with super hearing trying to get some rest.

When Aria grumbles something and covers her head with a pillow, Koharu glares at the bathroom door. “It’s too early, auuu. At least he’s better at singing than Tsadi.”

A previous roommate of hers, so Aria’s gathered. “Was he very bad?”

Koharu nods a few times. “He has ‘make your ears explode and die’ singing. It’s bad.”

Aria doesn’t even want to imagine what that would be like with her hearing.

* * *

_trying to rid you from my bones - forest covered_

Serif doesn’t know Amaya well at all. He’s aware that she and MTT are involved, which from his perspective means that she puts up with his personality better than most people and also they might kiss or something. But they haven’t really talked.

This is not the situation he wants to be having his first serious conversation with her in.

“So,” she says, getting straight to the point. Her expression is neutral. “I heard you and MTT had an incident earlier today. With a joy buzzer, right?”

“Something a little like that. Joy buzzers don’t actually make electric shocks.” Please let him talk about the finer points of pranking devices, instead of how awkward it was to try and prank MTT and end up... well...

Apparently some robots really like electricity. Go figure.

“Well, whatever it was, the point is...” Amaya leans a little closer to him, and lowers her voice. “Where can I get one?”

“...Huh?” he asks.

Her face is a little pink, though she’s still trying to look composed. “Please don’t make me explain why I would want one for- other uses-”

“No, no, I completely get you, do not go into that.” That might be the only thing more awkward than the actual shocking incident itself.

* * *

_an enemy bigger than my apathy - forest covered_

“Well, sure,” says Yonaka, “there are definitely some downsides to dating a robot. I’m not going to deny that there are.”

“Oh? And what would those be?” asks MTT, one eyebrow raised.

“Well... You know the thing where the guy wakes up and his girlfriend is wearing one of his shirts, and it’s too big for her but it looks really cute?” she says. “I’m never going to do that, because you don’t wear shirts.”

He scoffs. “Now that is simply not true, I wore a fantastic suit the other day.”

“...MTT, I don’t know if you’ve noticed this yet, but I’m not rectangular.”

“I know, darling. What a shame that is.”

Yonaka rolls her eyes. “Anyway, there’s more downsides to dating this robot in particular than robots in general.”

* * *

_would you run from you - forest covered_

Ame’s used to Linos having the quietest room in the employee’s quarters. Linos doesn’t talk, of course, and neither does Ewen. Nodoka seems like the reserved type, who doesn’t say much unless it’s really important. Hane - the guy one - is a babbler, but even he can’t completely make up for three other quiet people in his room.

So she’s surprised when she hears a great commotion coming from room four. She was on the way there to visit Linos, but now she’s a little concerned.

When she sticks her head in, she sees that it’s occupied only by two small children, a human-looking one and one that looks sort of like an armless lizard. They’re racing each other in circles, laughing and occasionally falling over only to pick themselves back up and start again.

It looks really fun.

The human kid spots her first and comes to a stop. “...Hi,” they say.

“Hi,” she says back. “I’m looking for Linos. Do you know where he is?”

The more reptilian child tries to stop, falls over, then bounces back up. “He said he was going to the library! He might be back soon.”

“That’s good. I have to talk to him about something important, so I’ll just wait outside.” Ame pauses. “Are you guys having fun?”

“Yeah!” they say, in unison.

“Since you’re Linos’ friend, you can join us if you want,” says the lizardy one. The other one nods.

“Okay!” she says, grinning, and comes inside. It’s just like playing with the spirit kids, except these two might have even more energy.

When they’re all too dizzy and exhausted to move, they sit on the floor together.

“What’s your name?” asks one. “I’m Trip. This is my best friend Grit!” An emphatic nod from Grit.

“I’m Ame.” She gives them both a tired smile. “My best friend’s Linos. We’ve known each other since we were little kids.”

“Dude! That’s so cool!” Trip turns to Grit, wiggling their toes and grinning. “Do you think we’ll be best friends even when we’re grownups?”

“Maybe,” says Grit, smiling back. “It’d be great if we were.”

“We’re gonna make it happen! Best friends forever, yo!”

Kids are so cute.

* * *

_prefer the lash - forest covered_

Teufel doesn’t spend much time in her room, if she can help it. Of course she sleeps there, there’s no better place to sleep, and besides which she trusts Selenite to have her back. And of course she takes her showers there, et cetera.

But otherwise, she spends more time in the second floor lobby than in the room itself.

“Why is that?” Hime asks her, one day. “I like seeing you out here and all, but it’s kind of weird, since you’re a pretty private person. Uh, not that that’s a bad thing-”

“I know what you mean,” Teufel says, interrupting. “I wouldn’t stay out so much in other circumstances, but it’s just... The twins.”

“Oh,” he says. “You’re afraid of them bothering you? That makes a lot of sense.”

“That’s not it. I can ignore them fairly well. It’s just-” Teufel pulls a face. “I don’t want to walk in on the two of them having sex again.”

“...You mean, with each other?”

“Yes.”

Hime is pale and silent for a long time. Finally, he says, slowly, “I’d never go in that room ever again.”

Teufel sighs. “If only I could scrub that memory from my mind forever.”

* * *

_our vows and sorry whispers - forest covered_

MTT mistakes him for a plush toy that Amaya’s carrying at first, until he realizes that under no circumstances would Amaya be carrying around a Mogeko toy, green or not. Also, he’s squirming a little in her arms.

“Can walk just fine by myself, missy,” he grumbles. His voice is surprisingly deep for such a small thing.

“I know,” she answers, smiling brighter than MTT usually sees on her, “but I don’t want to let go of you just yet. So you’ll have to deal.”

MTT smiles politely as they settle in. “Is this a friend of yours, darling?”

She nods. “He’s one of the only good Mogekos. Back in the castle, he... did a lot to help me escape.”

Her face falls at that, and the Mogeko reaches up to gently pet her face. “Don’t worry so much about it. I did it ‘cause I wanted to, and you don’t owe me anything.”

“But I... even so, I...” Amaya is quiet for a second before seeming to remember that MTT is in the room at all. “Oh, um, this is my boyfriend, MTT.”

“...Boyfriend, huh.” The Mogeko’s expression doesn’t change much - a narrowing of the eyebrows, at most - but MTT still gets the impression of suspicion. “How’ve you been treating her?”

MTT puts on his best, most reassuring smile. “Of course I’ve been spoiling her as well as she deserves.” He doesn’t add things like ‘she gets to be in my presence’ as part of that spoiling. It should go unsaid.

Amaya snorts with laughter, which doesn’t make him sound very convincing. “Yeah, right.”

“Missy, if he’s bein’ anything less than a gentleman, or like one of them-”

“He’s not that bad,” she’s quick to say. “Just vain and self-absorbed. But not bad. Thanks for worrying, though.”

The Mogeko grumbles, and looks from Amaya to MTT. “If I ever hear you hurt her, I’ll turn you into scrap metal.”

“Refreshingly straightforward of you,” says MTT. He doesn’t believe a word of it, coming from a small fuzzy cat a third his height. “But you have nothing to worry about.”

* * *

_the martyr line - forest covered_

The moment Koharu spots Aleph, a great cry of ‘Auuuuu!’ echoes through probably the entire island, and she’s running full speed to catapult herself into his arms.

He hugs her tightly, and when she starts to shake and tremble, he pets her hair. The motion seems to calm her down a little, but there’s still quivering in her voice. “Why’d you leave? You said you’d be here for ages and ages!”

“I’m sorry,” he replies. “I guessed wrong about how the Witch calculates her debts. I thought I’d be here for years longer.”

“You jerk,” she says, sniffling. “You left and your replacement roommates suck and nobody else here takes me seriously.”

“I’m really sorry,” he says, and squeezes her again; she squeezes back. “I missed you.”

“...You really did?” she asks. “You’re not just making that up?”

He answers, “I promise.”

“Tsadiiii...”

“My name’s Aleph.”

She blinks, and nods. “I’ll tell you what my name is, too, when I get it back. I bet it’s a really awesome cool name! Even better than everybody else’s!”

“I believe it,” he says, and they both smile.

* * *

_a mind that knows itself is a mind that knows much more - forest covered_

Yonaka’s eyebrows shoot straight into her hairline when she returns to her room and sees MTT in a school uniform - specifically, her uniform. “I don’t know what to say to you.”

“Compliments of all kinds are welcome,” MTT says, smoothing out his skirt. “I’ll also accept questions about how I pull it off and dismay that you could never look as good in a skirt as I do.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Yonaka says with a huff. “That’s my uniform. Of course I look better in it than you, you just look stupid. If you’d been wearing the boys’ uniform you might have had a chance, but... Nope.”

“Hmmph.” MTT folds his arms across his chest. “While I don’t believe you’re anything other than jealous... I just so happen to have found a copy of this school’s uniform for boys as well. I’ll gladly show you how stunning I am in every possible outfit.”

She snorts. “Go for it.”

It takes him a bit to put on the gakuran, the buttons are a bit finicky for someone trying it for the first time. When he’s got it on, he exits the bathroom where he’d been changing and poses in front of Yonaka. “How do I look, darling?”

Yonaka is totally silent.

“...Amaya? I know I said I was stunning, but you’re beginning to worry me here.” He waves a hand in front of her face.

“I think,” she croaks, “you should probably change out of that.”

He grins. “Too gorgeous? I understand if I’m too much for you to handle-”

“You look basically like my brother and I’m having a lot of complicated feelings about that right now,” she says, in a rush.

“...If you insist.” On his way to the bathroom again, he adds, “But I do look good in it.”

“Amazing,” she replies. “Which is part of the problem.”

MTT decides he’s not going to wear this particular outfit around her again. The schoolgirl uniform is still fair game.

* * *

_if the cars drove themselves - forest covered_

“Oooh~ Are you promoting my brand, darling?”

“Har har,” says Yonaka. She keeps fidgeting with the dial on her outfit. “I have no idea where the rest of my clothes went, or I’d be wearing literally anything else.”

MTT snickers at that, lighting up bright yellow. “Well, I have absolutely no idea what happened to your clothes, so I can’t help you there. But you look positively adorable when you’re dressed up as me!”

“Th-”

“Of course, who wouldn’t?”

“-I hate you.” Yonaka glares at him for a few seconds before sighing and picking up one of the boots off the floor. “How did you go from rolling around to walking in these heels with no in between, anyway? These are really hard to walk in and I’ve worn heels before.”

“Natural talent,” he replies, without a moment’s hesitation.

“Right. I don’t know why I bother asking you anything.” Yonaka sighs. “Well, since I’m promoting your brand, and all... I think you should do something for me, too. Does that sound fair?”

“That depends on what you want,” he says.

“I don’t want to walk around in these heels all day while I’m looking for my clothes, so...” She pulls herself onto Mettaton’s boxy body, legs hanging off the side. “Carry me around, okay?”

He pauses for a few seconds, then finally starts rolling out of the room. “Just so you know, this may not seem like a glamorous role, but it is now. Because it’s me.”

She pats him lightly on the top of his box. “I believe you. Let’s look around the bathhouse first.”

“You’re not driving, if we’re going to be doing this at all. I’m driving.”

“Fine, fine, whatever you say.”

* * *

_with fireflies providing us their holy light - forest covered_

“So, Chelan,” Dialo says. Her pen is poised above a paper full of notes for their wedding. “Where would you like to honeymoon?”

Chelan spreads her arms wide, and even someone who didn’t know Chelan as well as Dialo could tell what that means.

“Everywhere? That’s doable.”

* * *

They drop in on Onoda’s world first, and once introductions are made (though he seems to remember Chelan from that dream, confusing her a little), Dialo asks, “Are you in a race soon?”

“Oh-” He rubs the back of his neck, sheepishly. “I-I’m not racing professionally...”

Chelan chirps in reassurance, and Dialo translates. “Well, that’s all right. Would you like to go to a movie together?”

Onoda lights up. “Love Hime is having an anniversary special movie and it’d be really great if you guys went with me, I bet you’d fit right in with the cosplayers-!”

They attend the movie together. Chelan is wowed by the animation; it’s her first movie. Dialo makes a note to come back here with her sometime.

* * *

Jerusalem is the polar opposite of modern Japan, but Chelan is equally awed by its architecture. Dialo defends her from the glowers of other demons (though it would be a serious problem if they did pick fights: she’s still no fighter) until they find Dantalion.

“This is my wife,” is the way she introduces Chelan, and Dantalion nearly chokes.

“Congratulations,” he says, once he recovers.

Chelan beams, and Dialo smiles. “So about that Solomon person-”

“Don’t even start.”

Dialo decides not to press the issue.

They go sightseeing, with Dantalion showing them every beautiful part of the not-yet old city.

* * *

“Have you two been working on your baking?” Dialo asks Undyne and Papyrus.

“Have we been working on our baking,” Papyrus repeats, “of course we have! We’ll show you the best baking you’ve ever had!”

“Yeah!” Undyne agrees. “We’ll bake you a wedding cake, how about that?”

Chelan giggles and does not tell them that they’ve already had their wedding cake. She giggles even more when their violent style of baking gets batter on her face from across the room.

Dialo cleans the flour off her wings and sighs. “You’re even more animated than usual.”

It comes out delicious, which is the important part.

* * *

Kaneki and Tsukiyama get a warning before Dialo and Chelan actually drop in. Dialo’s well aware that their world is a dangerous one, but she couldn’t not visit them.

Tsukiyama gives Chelan a whole batch of flowers and explains the meanings of each as she twirls them into a flower crown. Dialo points out which ones they have in their own garden, and ends up tucking one behind Tsukiyama’s ear, too.

Kaneki invites them over for coffee. They sit in a cafe and chat about Koriko, share stories from their homes, and give each other well-wishes for the future. Chelan drinks too much coffee, and Dialo complains (with obvious affection) that she’ll never get to sleep after this. Chelan pouts. Kaneki chuckles at them both.

* * *

Hajime’s world is bustling and busy, and Dialo and Chelan nearly get lost trying to find Hajime, before she finds them first and tackles Dialo in a hug. Chelan makes it a group hug. Of course, they’re mistaken for cosplayers.

There are so many activities in Hajime’s home that they almost don’t know where to begin - scrapbooking meetups are tons of fun even for people who’ve never scrapbooked before, and karaoke gets Chelan to audibly form words as she dedicates a love song to Dialo. Dialo is starstruck by her wife every time she sings anything, and Hajime smiles over how totally and obviously smitten the two of them are.

* * *

After visiting so many of her friends’ worlds and spending so much time busy and active, Dialo tires herself out, and when they return to their own world the first thing she does is collapse on her own bed, groaning about how tired she is. Chelan joins her, snuggling against her, and Dialo smiles.

Home is their favorite world, after all.

* * *

_can't put a pin through your alibi - forest covered_

Yonaka spots a familiar set of antennae, and that about settles who the new worker is even before she gets a better look. “Erdi!”

Erdi starts a little, maybe Yonaka was too loud, but smiles when she sees it’s her. “Amaya-? It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”

“Ages,” Yonaka says. “I missed you, where were you?”

“Oh, the Witch had me working at an embassy in Pejite…” Erdi trails off for a moment before asking, “Did you really miss me?”

“Of course! We’re friends!”

Erdi ducks her head, but Yonaka can see the surprise and delight on her face.

* * *

_with passion of the pistol - forest covered_

“I like practical gifts,” says Yonaka, smiling with genuine gratitude as she puts the knives away. “Thanks, Violet.”

“You’re welcome,” says Violet. She reaches for her own. suspiciously book-shaped gift, and unwraps it. “This is…?”

“I don’t know if science even works where you’re from - or here for that matter,” Yonaka says, “but I think science can get kind of interesting if you’re asking the right questions? And I thought maybe you’d like it.”

Violet is, after all, a total nerd, but Yonaka doesn’t say that.

Violet holds the book to her chest. “Thank you. I’m sure I’ll love it.”

* * *

_looking down to mars - forest covered_

‘Have you traveled much’, Linos writes, in pastel blue chalk, then passes the chalkboard to Grit.

“I went to the underground,” they answer. “That’s a long trip. Mostly down.”

‘I’ve never left my village before this,’ Linos admits. ‘I would have been scared’.

Grit was beyond scared at the time, but they don’t think that’s the kind of fear Linos means necessarily. “Traveling can be nice. You get to meet new people.”

‘I’m glad I came here, and met you’. He gives them a big smile, and softly pats their head when they settle in closer to him.

“Me too.”

* * *

_the time to question my ground - forest covered_

“Christmas,” Yonaka explains, “celebrates the birth of the son of the God of most major religions on Earth. It’s a really big deal in a lot of places, even though what exactly you do to celebrate it depends on where in the world you are.”

“I see,” says Killer, solemnly. “What are your Christmas traditions?”

Yonaka says, “Mostly in Japan we just give presents to our loved ones and eat fried chicken.”

“What is the significance of the fried chicken?” Killer asks, eyebrows raised.

Yonaka thinks about it for half a minute, then shrugs. “Beats the heck out of me.”

* * *

_hunger for a muse - forest covered_

Drinker has quite a voice for jazz, as it turns out. Then again, they have a voice for pretty much everything they put their mind to sing.

When she’s not busy, Eve finds herself leaning against a wall and just listening. The woman tends to pick songs higher up in their register, while the man picks deeper ones, but they both have the ability to carry away the listener for a time.

And both of them usually notice, teasing her later with a “I see you enjoyed my performance~” or “so how was that, boss?”

She always only has praise.

* * *

_too late to tell you that I don't mind - forest covered_

“Schnee-chan,” Rabbit says for the millionth time, and finally she lets her curiosity get the better of her.

“What does that mean, -chan?” she asks.

“Oh, I didn’t know you wouldn’t know! It’s an honorific,” he replies. “It’s what you call girls who aren’t adults basically? Or babies or small animals, or basically anyone who’s cute. I don’t know what you’d translate it as, but in Japanese it’s pretty rude to leave someone’s name without an honorific.”

She blinks at him. “Should I be calling you something else? Like Rabbit-chan?”

He laughs. “That’s adorable, but you can call me whatever!”

* * *

_when the right dragon comes around - forest covered_

Linos is a little too young to be anyone’s dad, probably. He’s only in his early twenties and he doesn’t really know how to take care of anyone, or anything besides a deserted museum.

But there are still some things he can do.

When Trip comes back to the room, just a little before bedtime, not yet wiped out, Linos is there waiting for them. With a smile, he writes, ‘Tell me about your day’.

Beaming, Trip goes on and on about their adventures all around the island. And Linos listens, silent, attentive.

If nothing else, he’s good at listening.

* * *

_still I must obey, still I must invite - forest covered_

Yonaka checks up on Spooky now and then.

It’s not that she doesn’t think they can take care of themself, because she does. People who don’t connect well with others usually can manage by themselves if they’ve gotten this far already. It’s just that they shouldn’t have to, and anyway, she does genuinely like them.

Sometimes she invites them to hang out. Usually she gets turned down, but that’s okay. Occasionally Spooky will float into her general proximity when they’re both in the employee’s quarters, and she’ll smile at them.

Maybe things aren’t quite as awkward as they were before.

* * *

_in strange ideas we live apart - forest covered_

Every idol group needs to practice, practice, practice!

Sometimes that practicing annoys Rabbit’s roommates or Tsukuru’s, or everyone on the same floor, so they go out and practice in the sunshine or in unused buildings that aren’t too dusty (though Rabbit says it might be ‘atmospheric’) and they sing their hearts out.

Then they grab ice cream to soothe their throats and Rabbit finds out every one of Tsukuru’s favorite flavors and commits them all to memory so that if he ever needs to cheer her up, he can grab her a sundae so tall he almost can’t balance it.

* * *

_you are still the rage - forest covered_

If there’s anything Yonaka knows about MTT, besides his enormous ego, it’s that he can handle himself just fine. He’s tough, definitely, it’d be hard to hurt him or even chip his paint.

That doesn’t matter to her. The moment she sees a spirit physically harassing him she sees red.

Several knife injuries later, MTT drags her away by the arm. “Really, darling, I know you adore me, but stars have security for this sort of thing.”

“It’s not because you’re some celebrity,” she says. “You’re my friend. I can’t do nothing.”

That’s almost sweet, despite being about stabbing people.

* * *

_good thoughts in spite of righteousness - dramadramaduck_

Lucifer sneaks in to visit Lilith as frequently as he can. Of course he can’t be there too often, or he’d attract her brother’s attention and he doesn’t want to rip open that bag of worms just yet. But-

-look, it’s not like he’s especially upset over her situation, it’s just that it would be seriously boring to be a head in a basement, he figures. And Lilith is entertaining, so the least he can do is to entertain her back, right? That’s all.

...ah, hell, his friend is stuck immobile all alone in the dark and he’s mad. Fine.

* * *

_you are only a redeemer - dramadramaduck_

Yuji is heavily religious, so Nagisa isn’t too surprised when he asks the community for a worldhop to spend the day in an actual church that isn’t too weird now to have Christmas services.

What does surprise her is when he stops by her house afterwards.

“Merry Christmas,” he says, holding out a present. “It’s not much, but…”

It’s a stuffed rabbit. It looks mostly clean, so she’s not sure where he got it.

“Thank you,” she says, bright red. “Uh, I- hang on-”

She has to get him an even better gift if he managed to get her something!

* * *

_my bruise-colored eyes - satanick/valmont psl_

Christmas for Valmont is a lot like every other day of the year, except slightly more depressing. His henchmen have families to spend the day with, and he’s not so cruel a boss that he’d keep them from them, so he’s usually alone.

Not this Christmas. This Christmas, he has an annoying Devil in a Santa costume draped over him.

“Why on Earth did you decide to bother me today?” Valmont grumbles. “Don’t you have anything better to do?”

“Not really!” Satanick answers. “What could be more important than keeping you from spending the day by yourself?”

...That’s almost thoughtful.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forest Covered name notes: MTT = Mettaton, Amaya = Yonaka, Erdi = Lobco, Linos = Suga, Grit = Frisk, Teufel = Dialo, Mute = Chelan, Kai = Riku, Rabbit = Nanashi, Trip = Monster Kid, Kuma = Okuni, Kokoro = Soothead, Spooky = Napstablook, Citron = Shyren, Isol = Asriel, Goetia = Dantalion, Asad = Razol, Naomi = Natsuru, Tempus = Papyrus, Caesar = Bill, Percy = Dipper, Seigi = Undyne, Tencha = Asgore, Mushi = Ryoji, Hane = Yukari, Miau = Berg-Katze, Violet = Patchouli, Serif = Sans, Luca = Aqua, Tsukuru = Hajime, Drinker = Eater, Schneewittchen = Weiss, Harugami = Amaterasu, Lilith = Lily.
> 
> Don't let RP fic go unposted for four months, kids.

_wounded by dust - forest covered_

As hard as it is to suddenly remember another timeline, a timeline where MTT took his last stand against a rampaging menace and was barely a bump on their path, a timeline where he’d badly failed - as hard as all that is, those aren’t the only memories that have been dumped in his processors. The ones that aren’t his own memories, those are more difficult for him to describe without feeling sick. And he doesn’t even have a stomach.

He tracks Amaya down easily - he’s suddenly become intimately familiar with the sound of her crying. Her screaming, he could probably sort out the different types. This kind for being eaten alive, this kind for…

He tracks Amaya down to a room on the unoccupied floors of the employee’s quarters. She’s curled up in a closet, and when he pushes open the door, she trembles.

“...Hi,” she manages, her voice weak. “I’m, I’m sorry about your… dying.”

“As unglamorous as it might have been,” MTT says, because there’s really no way to spin that like a success when he knows she saw it too, “I wasn’t driven to hide in a closet by remembering it.”

He’s considering his options on what to say - comfort isn’t exactly his best suit but he can’t be that bad at it, especially if it’s Amaya - when she unfolds herself and clings to him, still shaking.

She’s tiny. It’s not the first time he’s had this thought, but it’s the first time he’s had it while petting her hair and letting her cry into his chest. She’s tiny, and she looks delicate, but somehow he already knows she’ll be able to pick herself back up from this, like everything else.

Maybe right now his best option is not to say anything.

* * *

_a stoic mind and a bleeding heart - forest covered_

“I think we should see other people,” Yonaka says, after the initial pleasantries are done with.

MTT blinks at her. She knows he doesn’t need to, so it’s a deliberate sign of confusion. “You’re dumping me?”

“I thought we weren’t dating, so I can’t possibly be dumping you,” she replies. He’d said as much to her before. “Look. A little birdie told me that if I respected myself, I wouldn’t give you a second look as boyfriend material, and I… don’t really know if that’s true or not. So I need some time to figure that out.”

“You’d have to have some awful taste,” he says, and waves a dismissive hand. “Very well, I suppose if you need to go on a voyage of self-discovery, it can’t be helped.”

“Thank you,” she says, choosing to ignore that first part. “We’re still friends. Right?”

MTT considers it for a second longer than she’d like, before answering, “Of course, gorgeous. Still friends.”

* * *

_let this be consolation - forest covered_

Yonaka doesn’t know what Erdi’s wish was. It seems like a personal thing to ask: what someone wants most in the world, so much that they’d trade away their own identity to get it. So she doesn’t ask.

But she sees how hard Erdi throws herself into her work, taking on extra jobs when she has any spare time. She notices how much she pushes herself and she figures, Erdi must want something pretty significant.

She also picks up on how little Erdi talks about her home, or when she does, how she speaks of it in past tense.

“...I think you must be pretty brave,” Yonaka says, quietly. “Taking on a lot of responsibility - it’s hard. I don’t think I could wish for anything bigger than myself - I look up to you.”

Erdi stares at her, startled, and Yonaka isn’t sure at which part.

* * *

_suffering in noise - forest covered_

Linos knows his job isn’t all that important, on paper. He manages a museum that hardly anyone ever comes to, unless it’s Sakuma sneaking out to get away from her family. It’s that the museum forms a barrier between the town and the forest of a vengeful spirit that’s really important.

‘So I can’t leave, or let the museum be torn down,’ he explains to Grit, who’s listening intently. ‘Even if nobody believes me about the ghosts’.

Grit is frowning. “So you just live by yourself there? ...Forever?” they ask.

‘Probably’, he writes back. ‘I have to’.

It’s lonely, but he’s never seriously considered doing anything else. But… seeing someone look so sad for his sake, is a kind of loved feeling he hardly remembers.

* * *

_will I be a part of what you've made - forest covered_

Teufel can tell you with absolute confidence that feelings are complicated, and you can’t really compare the feelings between any two people with any other two.

She likes Mute. Definitely, without a doubt. She’s liked her for a long time, and they’re practically attached at the hip now. She adores her love for everyone and her unwillingness to let anything stand in her way of what she wants to do, be it cooking or making friends.

But she doesn’t not like Kai because she likes Mute so strongly. Her feelings for Kai are newer, but still real. She admires his personal strength and level head, and simply finds him a pleasure to be with.

And really, no one else can tell her what she feels.

* * *

_from the trembling walls- forest covered_

Blanket forts, objectively speaking, are the best thing ever.

Rabbit crawls under the completed fort, where Trip is already kicking their feet in excitement. “Looks structurally sound from the outside!” he says. “Is it worthy enough to be our blanket fort?”

“It’s perfect, yo!” The blankets are low enough to be cozy but high enough that Trip’s spikes don’t disrupt them when they lift their head up. “I could stay here all day!”

“Me too! If I didn’t have work and stuff,” says Rabbit, grinning.

It took ten minutes to build perfectly. It lasts about two minutes before someone coming up the stairs walks directly into a chair and brings the whole thing down.

But they were two great minutes.

* * *

_is your loving lost - forest covered_

Someday Linos will have to go back to his own world.

If his wish is granted by the Witch, the Kotori Obake will be purified, and he’ll no longer have to stay alone in one museum. But that’s not a guarantee, and even if it was…

Going back to a world without Grit and Trip seems lonely, in itself.

That’s why he indulges them when they want to play some game in the room, as long as it isn’t too close to bedtime. That’s why he draws so many pictures of them, as terrible as they are. To make memories, and to record them.

For when he can’t make those memories with them any longer.

* * *

_the ugliest prey - forest covered_

Someday, maybe Rabbit will need to go on a date with somebody. He can’t deny that. And he’d like to be somewhat good at dating, when it happens.

It’s just kind of weird for Kuma to suddenly volunteer her services as his practice girlfriend?

He takes her out to a nicer restaurant than he usually goes to, because he doesn’t think real girlfriends would appreciate Pizza Hut. He tries making polite conversation, and Kuma makes token acknowledgements that he’s talking to her, but she’s paying more attention to the food.

...Actually, Rabbit thinks when he sees the bill, maybe it isn’t so weird after all.

* * *

_no faces to show - forest covered_

“You look so weird,” are the first words out of Yonaka’s mouth when she sees Kokoro all dressed up.

“Shut up,” he says. “If the Witch didn’t make us come to this stupid party…”

“Did she even brush your hair?” she asks, marveling at it. “I almost didn’t recognize you.”

He groans and covers his face.

“Honestly, I know this is where I’m supposed to say you should clean up more often, but you just look really uncomfortable,” she says. “It doesn’t look good on you at all. Just stick to how you usually look, maybe.”

“...great, thanks.”

“No problem.”

* * *

_whoever you are in the light - forest covered_

MTT, of course, is amazing at most anything he tries. At his area of expertise - the stage - he’s completely flawless.

That doesn’t mean he doesn’t recognize excellence in others. Maybe it takes a little longer, but he can see it. Spooky, of course, is a fantastic sound mixer, he’d have no one else. Citron is a wonderful backup singer when she can deal with her shyness. Amaya-

Amaya is, admittedly, pretty average in most areas. By her own acknowledgment she’s bad academically, her singing is lackluster the few times he can hear it through the bathroom door, and while she’s stronger than he’d expect from someone her size, it’s nothing that could put a dent in him.

But there is one area she exceeds expectations in, a trait he’s come to realize not all humans have. The stubborn will to survive and succeed and get their way that they call determination. Without it, he doubts she would have made it this far.

It shows in unexpected places. Of course it shows when she takes down a spirit twice her size for harassing her, refusing his help, but it’s just as apparent when she puts her hands on her hips and tells him, without a hint of hesitation, “I don’t care what your dark side said to me or what mine said to you. You’re still my friend, and that’s that.”

“Oh, darling. You always know just what to say.”

It’s not even empty flattery this time. That had been a real concern, albeit one he never would have voiced.

“You’re outstanding, did you know that?”

* * *

_where the trouble grows - forest covered_

One of the Eaters is messy by nature. That’s just how he is - he doesn’t see any reason he should change, especially after a thousand plus years of being too lazy to keep things tidy. If he doesn’t bother to change out of the dresses he hates, he’s certainly not going to bother picking up his stuff.

He’s a little better due to sharing a space with five other people - he can be polite, if nothing else - but that just means messiness comes out in other ways.

“Hey, Isol.” His smile at dinner is sly, and he tosses a tomato up and down in his hand. “Ever been in a food fight?”

“Wh- no, I haven’t, but…” Isol looks around at the room of workers, some of them big and burly and people he wouldn’t want to annoy. “Is that a good idea?”

“It’s a great idea. C’mon, it’ll be fun!” he says.

Eater arms Isol to the teeth with mashed potatoes, then lobs the first tomato at someone unsuspecting. They squeak, then pick up their plate of food and throw it at someone near Eater.

Food fights, Isol decides, are fun until his mom comes downstairs to get her own dinner and sees him in the middle of one.

* * *

_curses to this mirage - forest covered_

“I can turn my eyes red,” Teufel explains, demonstrating for Goetia.

He nods. “And what does that do?” he asks.

“Absolutely nothing. It’s just a trick meant to intimidate, it has no practical use,” she says. “Do you have anything like that?”

He considers. Most of his magic has more important effects, but… “I can create illusions,” he offers, summoning up a swirl of colors and lights. “Occasionally it’s useful.”

“I don’t think magic should always have to be useful,” she replies. “Sometimes it’s nice just to know it. ...Anyway, yours is prettier than mine.”

Goetia turns a little red.

* * *

_drifting back into nothingness - forest covered_

Asad and Eater haven’t talked too much before this, but that’s about to change, because Eater bursts into her room one day and declares: “Tell me how I look.”

Asad looks up at her, confused. “Why do you want to know?”

“I’ve already asked Naomi, and my other roommates are either men, children, or fish.” Eater does a twirl in her revealing outfit. “How is it?”

Asad shrugs. “Not bad.”

“...That is all you wanted to say?” Eater asks.

“Yep.”

A sigh. “Thank you for your valuable opinion.”

“No problem,” Asad says, and goes back to what she was doing.

* * *

_if you aren't out of here with me, then I'm going out alone - forest covered_

Of course Dialo’s not still working in ten years. She’d riot.

But she does have the wish she asked for from the Witch, the one she came up with a full year after working, and so she has the power to drop by Hajime’s world (she’s not still working either - everyone else would riot). She sneaks into the Gatchaman base, where everyone is used to seeing her now and there are stranger sights than a demon. Like a small alien who’s definitely not a panda.

Hajime squeaks and hugs her on sight, and Dialo lets her, because she can’t do it every day now so Dialo might as well allow it for the visit. Hajime’s grown, and her hugs are accordingly stronger, but Dialo’s grown as well. She thinks Hajime wouldn’t hug her beyond her capacity to take it anyway. She’s too observant.

While Hajime shoots questions at her rapidfire about her life since the last visit, Dialo settles into a beanbag, pets MESSy, and puts together her thoughts.

She starts with, “I missed you.”

* * *

_of no such despair - forest covered_

“Miss Witch,” Hajime begins, “if I ask about some of the people who’ve gone home, will you tell me how they are?” It’s unusually clear and direct for her, but the Witch communicates better being clear and direct, and Hajime really wants to know.

After a moment’s consideration, the Witch nods. “That would be fine.” She opens up her files and flips through them. “Who did you want to know about?”

After asking about a few other names, and receiving summarized reports of how they’re doing, Hajime asks, “How about Rabbit?”

“Rabbit…” The Witch looks at her paper. “Deceased, age fourteen. Suicide.”

“...Oh.” Hajime doesn’t know what to say about that, except she has a strong feeling, that things could have gone better with a little more pushing in one direction or another.

But it’s too late to push now.

* * *

_filled this void with things unreal - forest covered_

Yonaka could make a lot of excuses. She sleeps better near other people because she feels safer that way. She knows all she has to worry about are nightmares, but someone else’s presence does a lot to chase those off. And so on.

But the fact of the matter is that she’s tired and she doesn’t want to sleep on her own.

MTT is boxy right now - it’s more efficient to charge that way - but that doesn’t stop her from crossing the room to him, holding a pillow close to her chest. “Hi.”

A few of his lights turn on. “Why, hello, dear.”

“Would you mind if I... slept with you tonight?” she asks.

“So forward,” he teases. She knew he was going to, which is part of why she brought the pillow, to toss at him. It doesn’t do much but make him chuckle. “Not at all, darling. Make yourself comfortable.”

She picks up her pillow and sets it on top of his side. He’s still not the most comfortable place to rest her head or curl up against, but she’s had worse. The important thing is that he’s there, and she can trust that she’ll be safe.

That night, Yonaka’s sleep is nightmare-free.

* * *

_the walls were wet with your life - forest covered_

Offering to teach Tempus how to bake may have been a mistake, Teufel has realized. Unless specifically instructed to be careful, he’s too energetic with everything, and he seems to have the impression that just because the oven can go to 500 degrees, the oven should go to 500 degrees on every dish.

But she won’t quit just because it’s more difficult than she realized. She’ll try everything with him - pies, cakes, bread, cookies - until he gets the hang of something.

Teufel picks up a peanut butter cookie. ‘Lumpy’ doesn’t begin to describe it. She would never put it out in her own bakery to be sold.

But.

After taking a bite, she looks at Tempus, who’s waiting impatiently. “It’s good,” she says, and nearly chokes when he hugs her.

* * *

_the season rubs me wrong - forest covered_

To Tempus,

First, let’s make this clear. We are not going on a date. Ever. It would be inappropriate in three different ways and I have no interest in you that way.

But since you apologized, and because you’re a good worker otherwise, I won’t hold this incident against you. If this is a repeated issue, I may be forced to punish you. I can’t evict you from Koriko due to the terms of our contract, but I can and will find other ways to discourage this sort of thing.

This was all really uncomfortable for me. Please don’t do it again.

Sincerely,  
The Witch

* * *

_they will rend you terribly - forest covered_

Yonaka raises her hand politely, like she’s in a classroom, despite the fact that she is actually in a weird apocalypse version of Koriko.

“Sharp and Pointy, in the back?” calls Caesar.

“Can I take a rain check on this ‘worst fear’ thing, please?” she asks. “I mean, there’s kids here.”

She gestures to Percy, who scoffs. “Like asking nicely is going to get him to go easy on you.”

“Aaactually, I think I could settle for third worst fear for you. Maybe even fourth.” At Percy’s bewildered stare, Caesar does his best impression of a triangle shrug. “I don’t have morals, kid, but I do have standards! Anyway, it’s boring if it’s too easy. Like handing me a big red button that says ‘Traumatize Me, Captain’. Gets completely predictable results!”

Percy gives Yonaka a look.

Yonaka shakes her head. “You don’t want to know.”

* * *

_all I ever meant to do was keep you - forest covered_

It feels soft, Trip thinks. Quiet.

Trip remembers reading the old writing on the walls of Waterfall and seeing the drawings of a monster with a human soul absorbed - someone with enormous power. At the time, Trip had vaguely thought that having another soul inside you would make things loud, like sharing your room with your sister, except even more cramped.

But Linos’ soul inside of them is a soothing presence. As strange as the changes to their body are - hey, arms, they haven’t had those in ages! - any possible panic they might have, Linos calms them down from with the gentle pulsing of his light blue soul.

‘I’m here.’ The voice of another child, that they instinctively recognize as Linos’. ‘Everything will be fine.’

* * *

Rabbit’s soul is green, and that isn’t surprising to Tempus. What does surprise him is how small it is.

Rabbit’s always seemed to have a lot of energy, maybe even enough to match the great Tempus. He’s loud and cheerful - was loud and cheerful, isn’t so much anymore when he’s cradled inside of Tempus’ chest. So it’s surprising that he has such a tiny, weak soul, barely affecting Tempus at all.

“Don’t worry!” he says out loud. “As long as you’re with me, nothing can possibly harm you!”

He thinks he hears a soft, but genuine laugh deep within him.

* * *

It had been a panicked decision to absorb Amaya’s soul, MTT will admit. But what else was a monster to do? He couldn’t just leave her there.

Since his body is made of physical material, the strength of Amaya’s soul doesn’t change his shape at all, but he can still sense her perfectly well, a red glow that suffuses through him. It’s even easier to sense her anger, all pointed towards the spirit who killed her.

And who can blame her? She was just removed from her body. Even if anyone would be honored to share a body with him-

-oh, that irritation is directed at him now. Better refocus.

* * *

First, Seigi thrashes the spirit who dared kill Teufel. Then, when he’s out of commission, she takes a look at her soul.

Blue. Floating gently, almost serenely. It would be easy to absorb her and gain incredible power. There’s technically nothing stopping her from doing it.  
But it’s a lot weirder even thinking about it when it’s the soul of someone you actually know, instead of just a means to get stronger. She doesn’t seriously consider it for more than a second because of that.

...Also, her girlfriend might cry, and Seigi’s really not interested in making tiny angels cry.

* * *

Tencha doesn’t even for a moment want to contemplate absorbing another person’s soul, ever again; he’d hope he’s learned a little from those mistakes. He won’t repeat them, especially not in Koriko, where it’s more than likely just leaving matters alone will bring his friend back.

Friends back. There are two souls there: orange and purple, so closely intertwined that you couldn’t pick up one without taking the other as well, and yet still separate souls. He’s never seen anything like it in a human.

He’ll ask them about it when they return.

He has absolute confidence that they’ll return.

* * *

_you gave us our sight and the hearing is fine - forest covered_

“Your name is… Sans?” Yonaka asks, eyes wide.

“Sure is,” Sans replies. It’s good to have his real name back, even if he won’t be able to use it all the time-

“...Sans-san,” she says. “Am I ever glad I don’t have to say that in public.”

“...Huh?”

“Well, I mean…” Yonaka starts talking quickly. “I guess I could drop down to Sans-kun? But you seem like you’re older than me, and that’d be pretty disrespectful. And I know what you’re thinking, I call MTT-kun that all the time, but one he doesn’t act like he’s much older than me and two I’ve gone on dates with him so how much respect does he really need anyway, and-” She stops in the middle of her sentence. “Whatever’s translating for us hasn’t been translating me without honorifics this whole time, has it?”

“Never heard them out of you before this,” he says. “So suffix to say, I’m pretty confused right now.”

But it was totally worth it to get that groan.

* * *

_when our eyes caught, careless - forest covered_

There are four words (five words? four words, one of which is hyphenated) that no man wants to hear, Mushi thinks.

“This is my ex-boyfriend,” Yonaka says, indicating the robot guy next to her. Mushi gives him a look-over, then stares.

He’s hot. He’s really hot. He looks like he stepped out of a porn magazine for robots. His hair is beautiful, his face is perfect, his chest is broad, let’s not get started on his legs…

Mushi gulps. “N-nice to meet you.”

“Of course it is,” he says, smiling. “You look nervous… Mushi, was it? I hope you’re treating Amaya as well as she deserves.”

“He definitely is, MTT,” says Yonaka. She has a hand on his arm. “Don’t worry about me.”

Mushi starts to sweat, and doesn’t stop sweating until MTT is gone, when he can finally relax. “That was… something.”

“You don’t like him?” she asks. “Can’t blame you, he’s kind of a dick-”

“Th-that wasn’t it!” But that was the wrong choice of words, now he’s thinking about it and oh man he can’t compete there either, he just knows it-

“Mushi.” Yonaka rolls her eyes. “I absolutely guarantee you you have a bigger penis than him and the sex will be better, if that’s what this is about.”

He blinks owlishly at her, red in the face. They haven’t had sex yet, so… “...Really?”

“He doesn’t have a dick.”

“Oh.”

* * *

_trust when you labor - forest covered_

The wish Dialo made for her long years of service was worth it, or at least that’s the way she feels about it. Even if opening portals between worlds took a few tries to get used to, and she’s gotten lost more than once for a while until she found her way home again - even so, she wouldn’t trade it for any other wish.

Taxi service, she calls it, when she visits her friends and coworkers and offers to take them along with her to visit their friends and coworkers. She wouldn’t charge to reunite old friends, so she’s really more like a chauffeur, but ‘taxi’ is catchier, she says.

There are plenty of workers from this one particular world, so she decides to make this a group visit.

Hajime finds Kid again when they’re not so much a kid any longer, too big for her to pick up and swing around in a hug. She tries anyway, and laughs when the closest she can get is a little nudge. They’re laughing too, nuzzling their face against the top of her head.

Frisk’s bigger too, though still shorter than Suga. He’s too stunned at seeing them even to write a hello, and starts to cry the moment they hug him. They hold onto him even more tightly at that.

Eater takes one look at Asriel before declaring that she wants to be the one to ride on his shoulders this time, if you please. He smiles and lets her climb on, and she tells him it’s almost like flying again.

Yonaka finds Mettaton - who obviously looks exactly the same as before - first, and greets him with a simple ‘hey’. This doesn’t please Mettaton at all, and they briefly discuss how to properly reunite with your ex-not-really-boyfriend before settling on a dramatic dip kiss.

As for Dialo, though she might complain when Undyne noogies her in lieu of a greeting… She’s smiling for almost the whole visit.

A wish well spent.

* * *

_shall we follow our transgressions - forest covered_

“You date one robot. You kiss one ghost. You sleep with one Mogeko, and suddenly you’re the island’s expert on getting busy with nonhumans,” Amaya fumes.

Hane has no idea what a Mogeko is, and with Yonaka’s history she’s not exactly sure that she wants to know. It’s not the point, anyway. “Well, that’s more experience than most of us have…?”

Amaya shoots her a sour look. “It doesn’t mean I’m going to have any idea how to bone a skeleton, or that it’s not really embarrassing when you ask me about it on a public bulletin board!”

“Yeah, that’s pretty out of line no matter what you’ve done with whatever.” Hane sighs, and rubs her forehead. “Some people…”

“Honestly. Koriko should have sex manuals about this kind of thing anyway. I bet they’d be really popular,” Yonaka says.

“...they would and now you’ve made me imagine it.”

“Sorry, Senpai.”

* * *

_forgive me tomorrow- forest covered_

“Miss Witch!”

The Witch stops and turns to Tempus, who is holding a neatly wrapped box. “Yes?”

“In my home, we have a special tradition around this time of year of putting presents for our friends underneath a tree,” he explains. “But you don’t seem to have a tree, so… here!” He holds the box out to her.

She accepts the present and, hoping it’s not spaghetti, unwraps it.

It’s a scarf. Auburn-colored, nearly matching her hair.

She smiles and drapes the scarf around her neck. “Thank you. I’ll be certain to get you something nice in return.”

Tempus beams.

(She gets him a book of 1001 puzzles. He’s pleased.)

* * *

_here all the bombs fade away - forest covered_

It takes shorter than they’d thought for the Witch to find them, after the explosions started happening.

They’d been taking one of their ‘Nana’ disguises and sitting up in a tree, but she looks right at them and says, “I imagine you’re very pleased with yourself, Miau.”

They scowl and drop their disguise. “You’re no fun at all, Witchy.”

She folds her arms and says something they can’t quite make out. It’s not that it’s too soft or muddled, it’s that their brain won’t process it. “B̧̧҉̯͍̻̰e̷̢̨̦̲̰̠̝͖̱̙͓ͅŕ͚̼͈̜̣̲̖͠͝g̵̢̬̹̱̩-̧̢͖̰̲̲̤̝̞͓̻̥͍̼̬̻̺͎͝K̶̜̦̞͈̞̹̝͙̥͖̣̳̗̥̞̞̞͞ͅa̴̗̘͇̝͖̯̱̪̙̤̻̲͟͞ͅt̡͎͓͔͍̗̩̹͚̺͙̬̳͖͓͖̕̕z̩̻̳̰͎͓̥͔̕͟͜͠ͅe̶̮͚̰͖̰̱̫͇̭̳̤̲̹̩͢͞. Come down here.”

But their body knows it, and they hop down without thinking, unable to resist.

Greaaat.

* * *

_grab you by the nape of your neck - forest covered_

Teufel’s hair is long, coming down to her waist while it’s in pigtails and longer still when it’s out of them. It’s difficult for her to take care of alone, and thus she asks the people close to her to help.

As many tasks as Goetia’s done before, he can’t say he was often assigned to brushing hair.

“It’s easy,” she says. “Just do it in small sections. Start at the bottom.”

He’ll listen to her advice on hairbrushing, as that’s one area she definitely is more experienced in. That and baking.

“I didn’t realize how tangled your hair could get,” he says, tugging at a knot.

“It’s - ugh - bad genes, I think. Be gentler.”

* * *

_do not follow what you couldn't see - forest covered_

Yonaka’s not a fan of books, and that revelation makes Violet just stare at her for a second in silent judgment.

“It’s not like I hate them or anything,” she says, defensively. “But I wasn’t very good in school, and whenever I had to read something for class, I always thought it was boring. So I guess I just associate them with bad grades and not understanding all the themes or whatever.”

“There is a difference between reading for pleasure and reading because you have to,” Violet admits. “It’s a shame. There are so many books I’ve never read before here, I would love to share them.”

“...Yeah, well, I really don’t know if I could keep up with you…”

* * *

_not about to stick my grave - forest covered_

“Seigi,” Teufel says, after the pie is in the oven and the timer is set, “does everyone have to be a fighter?”

Seigi raises an eyebrow at the question. “Where’d that come from?”

“Someone… not exactly from my world, but from a world that came before mine, told me once that the peace in my world had made everyone weak.” Teufel swallows. “That when it came down to it, I wouldn’t be able to protect the people I love.”

“You want to know what I think about that?” Seigi asks. When Teufel nods, Seigi raises her voice. “I think they’re full of crap! Of course not everybody has to learn how to fight. It’s just as important to learn how to play the piano, and plant flowers, and do all that other stuff that makes life worth living when you’re not fighting! Besides, what’s the point of us guards if we aren’t protecting people who can’t protect themselves?”

Teufel smiles at the answer. “Thank you. I think I needed to hear that.”

“Any time.” Seigi reaches down and ruffles her hair, and Teufel doesn’t protest.

* * *

_said I'd be alright, I lied - forest covered_

At the loud knocking on room eight’s door, Serif can’t help but tense up. He’s heard about the temporary visitors to the island, and while he’s happy Seigi gets to spend some time with Alphys, there’s people from home he doesn’t want to risk seeing.

Then Amaya’s voice reaches him. “Is anyone there?”

“One sec.” She’s harmless enough that he’ll open the door. “It’s just me in here.”

“Great, ‘cause I was just looking for you.” She steps inside the room without being invited, closing the door after her. “Kind of don’t want to be alone right now.”

“...And I’m your first choice?” He’s not exactly great at the protecting people thing - at least, not that she would know - and they’re not particularly close.

She nods. “Brother’s here.”

Well. That explains some things.

“There aren’t that many people I’ve told about… uh, how things ended up. I can’t find Luca, and I really don’t want Brother and MTT to meet.” She fidgets, not meeting his gaze. “My brother used to be a little… protective? So meeting my boyfriend would probably make things worse.”

Serif doesn’t associate ‘protective’ with ‘attempted murder’, and it probably shows in his expression, but after a moment he shrugs his shoulders. “You can hang out here if you want. I’m not stopping you.”

“Thank you.” She settles down in one corner of the room and hugs her knees, not saying anything further. He could probably doze off and she wouldn’t disturb him at all.

Sometimes it helps to talk, he remembers her telling him.

“...So. Got any hobbies?”

Maybe he’ll sleep later, he decides, as Amaya gives him a grateful smile.

* * *

_things unspoken break us if we share - forest covered_

Trip keeps an Echo Flower in room four.

Linos sees it all the time. He waters it now and then, although taking care of it is primarily Trip’s job, and he regularly checks to see if its leaves are wilting. It’s always picking up voices - Trip’s excitement repeated over and over again, or Grit’s gentler tones, or even occasionally a yawn that he distinctly recognizes as Hane’s.

Sometimes Trip and Grit tell their wishes to the flower. He only knows because he hears them later, as he’s checking the flower for bugs.

“I want to be a hero someday, like Tsukuru and Seigi and Tempus! And be able to protect everybody!” That’s Trip, of course, and Linos can’t help but smile when he hears that one.

“I want to keep my family forever. Even the family I made here.” Grit’s voice, soft but determined, and Linos’ smile is tinged with sadness this time.

Today, he’s staring at the flower when Trip comes in.

“Yo, Linos!”

Linos was deep enough in thought that Trip’s voice startles him. He jolts a little, then collects himself and pulls out his chalkboard.

‘Hello  
Sorry, I was thinking’

“Yo, what about?” Trip asks, eyes wide. “Did I water the flower too much?”

‘It’s just fine  
I was just thinking  
I’d like to make a wish’

But he can’t, of course. No matter what he tries, he can’t make a single sound, and an Echo Flower can’t read anything he writes.

Trip realizes this as well. They scrunch up their face for a moment, thinking hard, and then come up with: “You should tell me what your wish is, and then I’ll tell the flower! Unless it’s a secret...”

Linos smiles at them, nods, and taps his chalk a few times. If it’s a wish, then it’s important to phrase it exactly right. After some thought, he writes in clear letters:

‘I wish for my family to be happy when they go back home’

Trip reads the message, then turns to the flower with a look of grave importance on their face. “Linos wants his family to be happy when they go back home,” they repeat. “And I want him to be happy, too!”

With their message delivered, they turn back to him, and he scoops them up in a hug.

* * *

_when you fall after fifty tries - forest covered_

It had started with Yonaka snapping at Asad, as usual. The conversation slash argument had been about Yonaka’s lack of skills in the physical department - as strong as she was for her size, she didn’t know how to fight as well as a trained soldier, and she knew it.

Frustrated, and fumbling for something that she was better at than Asad, she’d said, “Well, I bet you can’t dance!”

...That had somehow led to Yonaka teaching her.

Asad was naturally good at picking up the motions once instructed on what they were. It wasn’t unlike fighting, Yonaka guessed: move your feet here, keep steady, pay attention to what the other person’s doing so you can react. It was a bit slower, and slightly less likely to end in injury, but the skills were similar.

“You’re not bad,” she admitted, reluctantly.

“It’s easy,” said Asad. “And kind of boring.”

“It’s better with someone you actually get along with half the time.”

* * *

“Hey, kiddo.”

Isol hadn’t been greeted like that so far at this formal ball. He stopped fussing at his collar and looked up at Drinker, grinning at him. “Hi, Drinker.”

“You’re looking princely tonight. Guess you liked that outfit, huh?” he - it was definitely the guy Drinker talking to him now, dress or not - asked.

“It’s the fanciest thing I have here,” Isol replied. “Um, thank you very much.”

Drinker waved a hand, dismissive. “Naah, it’s mostly her taste in clothes anyway. I’m pretty used to them by now, but it’s still not my style. Anyway!” He gathered his skirt in his hands and curtsied. “May I have this dance, Prince Isol?”

The demureness of the gesture coupled with Drinker’s usual grin made Isol laugh softly as he held out his hand to him. “Sure.”

As the taller one, Drinker naturally settled into the leader role. His footwork was perfect, and he held a pace that Isol could keep up with.

He dipped Isol just before the song was over, and Isol squeaked in surprise.

“Can’t help it,” Drinker said with a smile, letting him back up. “I don’t get to lead much. Or dance with a such sweet kid.”

Isol smiled back. “You can dance with me any time.”

* * *

“I don’t… think this will work.”

Yonaka frowned and took a glance at the dance floor before turning back to Spooky. “Sure it will. When you’re dancing to music like this you just make up whatever anyway, you could shake a little and that’d be dancing.”

Spooky stared at the floor. “But… it’s fine... you can dance by yourself…”

“I’d just be sad seeing you over here in the corner,” she replied, and held out her arm like they could take it in theirs. “Come on. One song.”

“O...okay…”

It was, admittedly, kind of awkward to dance with a ghost. They shook halfheartedly to the beat and didn’t make eye contact for the whole song, disappearing as soon as the music ended.

But at least she could say she got them to dance once.

* * *

The Witch wasn’t prone to making appearances at the parties she had her employees attend, so it was a surprise to see her approach the dance floor, dressed in a much more formal dress than her usual business attire. She’d let her hair down, too, and one employee (probably a very stupid one) whistled as she came closer.

The first person to intercept her was Tempus.

“Miss Witch! You look very lovely tonight!”

“Thank you, Tempus,” she replied with a smile. “You look quite dapper yourself.”

Tempus looked particularly pleased with the compliment - it had been worth fussing with his tie for five minutes. “I was wondering if I could have the honor of a dance? With you?”

She considered it for a few seconds, then said, “One dance,” and held out her hand to him.

As it turned out: the Witch was not very good at dancing. That was fine, because Tempus was willing to suffer through a few stepped-upon feet for a dance with such a lovely lady.

* * *

“Your theme song’s nice,” Yonaka said, after watching a few episodes of MTT’s shows. “Especially when the drums kick in.”

“Of course it is. I wrote it.” MTT preened as he spoke. “I wanted something that would make my viewers want to get up and dance every time they heard it.”

“I don’t know about every time, but on the first listen?” She smiled and rose from her seat. “I’ll dance to that. Play it again.”

She was better at slow dancing than freestyling, by her own admission, but it didn’t matter as long as it was fun. It especially didn’t matter when MTT caught her hands and spun her around, joining her in her impromptu dance.

It ended with MTT dipping her, and as the keyboard faded away Yonaka leaned her head up and smooched him right on the lips.

He nearly dropped her.

* * *

Dancing was all about nonverbal communication, someone might have said. Being able to read your partner’s signals without words, so you don’t end up stepping all over each other when the leader tries a different step.

By that logic, it’d have made sense for Linos to be good at it, but he wasn’t. He was far too nervous and awkward for that.

However, when Grit approached him at a dance and held out their tiny hands, how could he possibly have said no?

Grit didn’t know how to slow dance either. They mimicked the dancers around them, adding in a spin or a twist whenever they felt like it. Linos followed them as best as he could, just trying not to bump into anyone else at first, and gradually loosening up.

Dancing was all about having fun, someone else might have said.

By that logic, Grit was amazing at it.

* * *

_disguise the vision - forest covered_

Rooming with a wolf was an interesting experience.

Schneewittchen supposed it could be worse. Harugami - she’d gathered that was the wolf’s name from the labels on her door - wasn’t particularly noisy, and certainly didn’t take up all the shower time in the morning. There weren’t many possessions a wolf could leave lying around for her to trip over. All in all, it was much more agreeable than having a human roommate.

Especially because she’d never treat a human roommate like this.

“Who’s a good girl? You’re a good girl,” she said, lightly petting Harugami’s back. The wolf made a sound that wasn’t quite a purr, but Schneewittchen assumed was pleased anyway, considering she was letting her continue petting her. “Yes you are. Yes you are!”

Wrapped up in her petting session, she didn’t notice the door open until Lilith stepped inside. “Think I left some of my charms in here…”

Schneewittchen jolted away from Harugami like she’d been burnt. “You- You didn’t see anything!”

Lilith paused, before giving Schneewittchen a smile. “Didn’t see what?”

“That’s what I thought,” she huffed.

Harugami grumbled in disappointment from the sudden lack of petting.

* * *

_break your heart to break her bones - forest covered_

If asked, MTT would probably describe the difficulty level of his attacks as ‘tough, but fair’. There’s no point in watching a battle where the outcome is a hundred percent guaranteed from the start: on his show, he always has to give his opponents some chance of victory, even if it’s slim.

He’s not on his show right now. Right now he’s on a spirit island far away from the underground he calls home, and he’s watching the human soul he’s recently absorbed retaliate against an attack.

Yonaka does not have a concept of overkill, it seems. Nor one of mercy. The magic of her soul manifests itself as knife after knife, swiveling to surround the enemy before going in for an unavoidable strike. Rinse, repeat. All the while, she’s silent in his head, with no thoughts that he can overhear - only waves of anger to remind him that she’s awake and currently in control.

He remembers, when he was living in Waterfall, reading the story of the war between humans and monsters. The walls mentioned the ability monsters had to absorb human souls, calling the result a horrible beast with unfathomable power.

MTT wonders if half the terror of that power wasn’t the single-minded willingness a human had to put it to use.

‘Darling, don’t you think that’s enough?’ he thinks at her, ready to nudge her out of command of his body - it is his own body, after all. If she fights him for it, she’ll lose.

‘No,’ is the swift reply. ‘They attacked us first.’

He gives the enemy a glance; they’re heavily bleeding, backing up with a terrified expression on their face. He wills the knives to disperse and control to come back to him, and once he does, the opponent books it as fast as their wounded legs can take them.

“Really now,” he murmurs. “Don’t you know how to spare someone properly?”

‘I know how,’ she answers. ‘But why would I?’

That’s a serious question. He’d much prefer to think it was a joke.

* * *

_you must know life to see decay - forest covered_

“Tsukuru,” says Rabbit, propped up on his elbows while lying on the floor, “how important are good intentions?”

Tsukuru stops doodling. She thinks of Tsubasa and Gelsadra as she asks, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, people with good intentions can do bad things, everybody knows that,” he says. “And people with bad intentions can do good things, too. Would you rather be friends with a good person doing bad things or a bad person doing good things?”

“Hmmm…” After some thought, Tsukuru draws a square, and divides it into four evenly sized, smaller squares. She displays it to Rabbit. “Is it really like this?”

Rabbit takes a look at the paper for a moment, then tilts his head to one side. “Um, I don’t really get you.”

“Good people doing good things, bad people doing bad things, good people doing bad things, bad people doing good things.” She taps on each square in turn. “Is it like that?”

“...No, I guess it’s not. If you’re trying to do good things, you’re way more likely to do good things than if you’re trying to do bad things. So, good intentions are important?” Rabbit asks.

“Hmmmmmmm…” After even more thought, Tsukuru says, “Good intentions are good! But they’re not kapow, bam! You know?”

After more puzzling over it, Rabbit says, “I think things’d be way easier for me if I just read your mind. But I got told not to, so… You mean that good thoughts aren’t the same as doing good things?”

Tsukuru nods.

“That doesn’t really give me an answer one way or the other…”

“That’s because it’s in the middle!”

Good intentions are important, Tsukuru knows. And Tsubasa has good intentions, so Tsukuru knows that with a little bit of pulling her back, away from the atmosphere, she can be a great hero.

* * *

_given what you lost are you better off - forest covered_

Suga starts crying again the moment he finds himself in his museum.

He hangs the pictures on the walls, as he’d been asked. Most of them stay in his room - pictures of Frisk and Kid and him together where he’s reminded of their time together every time he glances at a wall. The ones that are of Suga alone, he puts in the children’s room. He doesn’t need to look at himself so often, and they’ll improve the quality of the art there.

Shiori comes a few months later, as he half-expected, and she doesn’t remember a thing. He lets her stay without too much argument, but still warns her to be careful and stay out of the forest. Old habits are hard to break, and concern for Shiori is his oldest habit.

His first spoken word in ten years is “Shii-chan.” His second and third, spoken later in the privacy of his own room, are “Frisk” and “Kid”.

Shiori brings up the pictures to him later, apologizing for entering his room without his permission, and Suga tells her the entire story. A Witch who’d promised anything anyone desired for only their hard work in exchange. A Shiori whose ending hadn’t been as happy as theirs, who could no longer see her own Suga. Two children who had become Suga’s dearest family, only to leave him like the rest of his family once did.

He cries again while recounting it, and Shiori holds him close and tells him that all of them will be alright.

* * *

_let the universe be your shelter from the enemy - forest covered_

Very few people knock on a museum door, so Suga’s surprise when the door opens is minimal. While not many people visit the museum these days, some still do, or perhaps it’s Sakuma or Mochizuki-

“Linos?”

Suga drops the pen he was holding and turns around.

Grit and Trip are both peeking through the doorway. Upon spotting him, Trip lets out a whoop and barrels towards him, and he bends to hug them tightly as soon as they collide into his chest.

In Koriko, he would have had to stop hugging them in order to say hello. Here, it takes only a moment of clearing his throat before he’s able to rasp, “Trip - Grit-”

Trip looks up at him, eyes wide with shock. “Yo, did you just talk? Frisk! He just said our names!”

He smiles and nods. “I missed you.”

“We missed you too.” Frisk is smiling just as widely, and now that there are no concerns about letting him write to answer, it’s a group hug.

“Frisk is a nice name,” he says, giving them an extra squeeze before letting go. To Trip they ask, “What’s yours?”

“It’s Kid,” they say, and they snort when he raises his eyebrows. “It’s a monster thing. You can keep calling me Trip if you want, it’s no big deal.”

“Whatever you want,” he says in reply. “I’m Suga.”

“Suga,” Frisk repeats, pronouncing it correctly. “That’s a nice name too.”

“Did you hang up the pictures?” Kid asks, looking around. “I don’t see them around here…”

“They’re in my room, mostly,” says Suga. “Do you want to have a tour?”

Kid bounces up and down, and Frisk looks delighted, so he’ll take that for a ‘yes’.

They tour the entire museum, looking at rocks, plaques, and Suga’s picture books, all while Suga tells the story of what happened after his return. His voice is worn and croaky from disuse and with anyone else, even Shiori, he’d be self-conscious about it.

With them, he’s just grateful to be able to speak to his family for the first time.

* * *

_a word of warning goes to you - forest covered_

It’s not that Teufel is opposed to baking Tempus a cake for his birthday, far from it. It’s not even that she’s opposed to Seigi helping, since they’re mutual friends. She’d even managed to get her to calm down with the mixing and set the oven to a reasonable temperature, which was a small miracle in her book.

“How much longer do we have to wait?” Seigi asks, tapping her foot.

“Until the cake has completely cooled,” Teufel repeats. “If we frost it now, the frosting will melt and look hideous.”

“...So about two minutes?”

“More like ten.”

Seigi grumbles and keeps tapping her foot.

At least if anything could be said for this cake, it’s this:

It’s better than anything Tempus could make himself.

* * *

_wasn't willing to fight on the floor - forest covered_

There are things that can hurt ghosts, especially on an island of spirits. Spooky’s used to being invincible, so their cry of “ow!” is as much from surprise as it is from actual pain.

“Spooky, what-” Yonaka, having rushed over right away, fixes her hard gaze on the spirit who’d dared lay a claw on them. She draws her knife.

Spooky gets the feeling that this will go very poorly for somebody. “You don’t… need to do that…”

No answer. Only stabbing. Spooky backs away and considers attempting to raise their voice, which in itself is a sign that something has gone horribly, horribly wrong.

* * *

_so barely there you couldn't walk a straight line - forest covered_

“We could get someone to break the handcuffs,” Teufel suggests, trying not to tug on her end. “There must be someone here who can manage it. If not, we could always ask the Witch… though she’d probably add more to our debts for it.”

Tsukuru nods along, looking thoughtful. “It’s not so bad! And Miss Witch’s schedule is like, bam bam bam! So we can handle it.”

Teufel thinks that means she’s busy. “It’s hard to bake with someone attached to you. I’d really like to get these off as soon as possible.”

“Teufel-chan, you’re always thinking of your work, even when something happens to you! It’s really cute-!”

Being hugged by someone who is attached to you by the wrist is awkward at best and something Teufel doesn’t recommend.

* * *

_fingers tap into what you were once - forest covered_

“But you look wonderful in everything, is the issue,” says Eater with a sigh. “It makes it so much more difficult to choose what costumes we should wear!” She pushes various pictures at Natsuru. “Here, which do you like best?”

Natsuru can’t say she’s new to dressing up in ridiculous outfits, but some of these look like they have five layers and ruffles everywhere. Then again, that’s Eater’s personal style. She tries to find something a bit simpler. “Um, what about these two?

Eater looks over her choice and gives a delighted smile. “A classic! Would you prefer Neptune or Uranus?”

“I think Neptune is more you…”

Neither of them have actually seen Sailor Moon, but they look gorgeous anyway.

* * *

_provincial midnight - forest covered_

“Prince Asriel, your knight has returned from their mission.”

“Yo, Asriel,” says Eater.

The servant frowns severely at Eater, but Asriel just laughs and waves him over. “How did your quest go?”

“Boring! I could beat all those monsters in my sleep. But we purified the tomb, like you asked.” Eater stretches his arms behind his head. “Y’know, you should come with us sometime. Get to see the world outside this castle more often. You’re cooped up.”

“Oh, I… I couldn’t really. Your journeys are so dangerous…”

“Nah. Anybody wants to lay a hand on you, we’d kick their ass.”

Asriel sighs, and tries not to imagine how fun traveling with Eater might be. “I-I have another task for you.”

* * *

_chemical kind - forest covered_  
Mettaton hears the sounds of an argument, then a scuffle outside his dressing room and sighs. Really now. He loves that his fans are so ardent, but even a star needs some time to himself between shows.

He opens the door halfway. “Everything alright out there, darling?”

“Just fine!” Yonaka answers, smiling. He’d liked that about her when he hired her - most of his potential bodyguards were too dour. Yonaka is serious, but she has a sweet smile, and Mettaton isn’t the kind of person to tell her it’s out of place when she has a baton pointed at a monster’s chest.

When you’re a human, you don’t need much to be a monster’s bodyguard. It helps that her self-control is normally good enough to avoid seriously injuring a monster, if it even comes to an actual fight.

“Wonderful. If I’m not out ten minutes before the next show, knock, won’t you?”

She nods, and he shuts the door again.

* * *

_an ocean's garbled vomit on the shore - forest covered_

“Uh, hello…? Is anyone in this spooky evil lair…?” Yonaka asks, taking slow steps. It’s eerily empty, but this was where she was told that-

“Hello,” says Lobco, popping up from nowhere. Yonaka screeches, and when she does Lobco squeaks and recoils, looking just as frightened. “I’m sorry!”

“Uh - uh, wait, aren’t you the mad lobster everybody’s scared of?’ Yonaka asks. “I kind of thought you’d have some minions to fight before I ran into you… and that you wouldn’t be polite...”

“I’m not mad,” Lobco says. “I just don’t really like going outside anymore, that’s all.”

“Oh. Well, that’s awkward. I was prophesied to defeat you, and everything,” Yonaka replies.

“...You could defeat me at checkers?”

“Works for me.”

* * *

_clawing at the ceiling of his grave - forest covered_  
“It’s paint,” Amaya says firmly.

Spooky is the last person who wants to argue with anyone, and it’s not like they’re especially versed in what humans do with their time, and for all they know Amaya actually does have art projects-

“-but that’s definitely blood…?”

Amaya’s frown intensifies. “It’s paint,” she insists, hiding her soaked red hands behind her back. “And I’m going to go shower now, if that’s okay.”

“O...kay.” It’s not like Spooky could do anything anyway, and to be honest it seems like a good idea to get out of this conversation by any means.

...They’re suddenly a lot more worried for their cousin than usual.

* * *

_sanguine eyes - trustfell_  
The whole fight had been one long adrenaline rush, and it was only after the two of them were sitting around in wherever the hell dead people went to that Zagi thought to ask.

“You’re a vampire. And a shrimp. A vampire shrimp.” When Cherryblod nodded, Zagi raised an eyebrow. “How does that work?”

“Anybody can become a vampire if a vampire bites them,” Cherryblod explained, calmly. “I made a mistake when I was younger, and it cost me.”

“It’s actually pretty cool once you get past the weird part. And I guess the ‘needing blood to survive’ part gets inconvenient? But other than that it’s awesome,” Zagi said, completely genuine.

Cherryblod chuckled. “I’m glad you’re taking it so well.”

“We’re gonna fight again, right?”

“I don’t see why not.”

* * *

_the call of my unborn sons - trustfell_

The doorbell rings, and Yosuke pushes himself off the couch. After getting home from the Vault and going through his initial rush of making sure everyone he knew was really alright, he kind of wanted to do nothing more than lie around and watch TV for a year, but still. “I’ll get it.”

When he opens the door, he only has about a second to register that it’s Cherryblod before he’s being hugged tightly. He fumbles with his hands for a moment before giving in and hugging Cherryblod back.

“I missed you,” Cherryblod says when he pulls away.

“It’s only been a week,” Yosuke says with a smile. Now that he’s recovered from the surprise hug, he can properly see that there’s a lobster girl standing somewhat behind Cherryblod, fidgeting with her hands. “This’s your daughter, right?”

The girl nods. “Err - my name’s Lobco. Thank you for taking care of my father.”

He rubs the back of his neck, sheepish. As much as he’d like to look cool in front of a cute girl, there’s nothing to show off about. “I didn’t really do anything, it’s more like he took care of me…”

“Now that’s not true,” Cherryblod starts, and then his attention is caught by: “You’d be Mrs. Hanamura, I presume?”

Yosuke’s mom looks a bit bewildered by the presence of two sea people in her doorway. She works her mouth a few times, but only manages a, “Yes?”

“Oh, good. I wanted to tell you that your son is a delight, with integrity, bravery, and a level of compassion for others that shows how well he was raised.” From anyone else, that might have seemed like flattery, but Cherryblod glows with sincere affection when he talks about Yosuke, and that makes it easier to believe.

It also makes Yosuke embarrassed as heck, and he catches Lobco giving him a sympathetic expression.

Hearing that, Yosuke’s mom relaxes a little, shrimp tail or not. “...Why don’t you two come in?”

* * *

_the bravest make mistakes - trustfell_

Mettaton’s memory isn’t bad, it’s just that he rarely puts in the effort to recall anything that’s uninteresting. But he does remember learning about humans’ soul colors, and what they mean.

When Mettaton thinks orange, he thinks of Sigrun first: bravery, the indomitable boldness and willingness to throw herself headfirst into everything. In battle, in romance, whatever it is, Sigrun goes into it without fear, or else doesn’t let her fear stop her.

Cherryblod’s soul is orange, and sometimes that strikes Mettaton as a little strange. He thinks green might be more appropriate, for kindness, and then remembers the way Cherryblod acts during trials when his anger and hatred is roused. The same metric strikes out light blue for patience: he has plenty, but that makes it all the worse when he runs out.

What he doesn’t consider: darker blue for integrity, because Cherryblod lies more than anyone else here besides himself. Yellow for justice, because really.

Purple and red were contenders, for perseverance and the distinctly ‘human’ quality called determination, but as the days pass, Cherryblod’s smiles seem more strained, and he sounds less and less sure of himself when he speaks of returning home to his family. With someone who’s called himself an optimist since he arrived, it’s difficult to watch.

But orange settles into place now that he can think back with a cooler head on him admitting to his secret. Cherryblod has called it terrifying, and Mettaton knows it must have been: the longer a secret lasts, the harder it is to admit to it. He’s seen that in others close to him.

He admitted to it anyway, despite the fear. Stupid or not, painting a target on his back or not, it was undeniably brave.

Mettaton wishes he was just a little less brave sometimes.

* * *

_put off all your peace - trustfell_

When Sigrun finally returns to her world, it’s night.

Night’s a dangerous time to be out and about, in general. Trolls are more active, and it’s easier for them to get the jump on you. Especially since she isn’t quite sure what state she left her group in, she’d rather have come back in the daytime, just to give herself a little bit of time to get readjusted.

But at the same time-

Mettaton is right beside her, his eyes as wide as she’s ever seen them. Above them are hundreds of stars - real stars. For once, he’s silent without her getting his soul out of his body first.

She doesn’t want to ruin this moment for him, and she should be keeping more of an eye on their surroundings anyway, but it’s hard not to just stare at the shock and delight in his expression and think, ‘I made him make that face’.

Definitely a punchy feeling.

It’s even punchier when he turns to her suddenly and says, with what she recognizes from him as total sincerity, “Thank you.”

She grins, and blocks him with a hand when he moves to kiss her. “Not right in the open. Hunting trolls is fun, and kissing you is fun, but maybe not both at once.”

Later, though. Later she’ll show him everything he’s been missing, and this giddy feeling in her stomach might never go away.

* * *

_the scariest things are not half as enslaved - dramadramaduck_

Retasu has always been better at magic than Lobco, and Lobco, stronger physically than her sister.

Cherryblod loves them both equally, of course. They both have their own talents, and they’re both his precious little girls.

Retasu is very good at manipulating water, which is a handy skillset for a sea creature to have. She doesn’t often have to use it, but when she does, it’s always worth seeing.

So, for example, when she sucks all the water out of a certain shark ambassador’s body and he dries up like a raisin…

Cherryblod’s definitely proud of her in that moment.

* * *

_mother wept no tears - ivlis/yonaka psl_

Yonaka will be the first to admit she’s not very good with children. She and Poemi get along okay, but they’re not very close considering Poemi is her longstanding boyfriend’s daughter.

Licorice has a disadvantage going in. He looks more like Satanick than Ivlis, and it reminds her exactly of how he came to be. She doesn’t want to hold that against him, but it’s hard to forget.

Also, the growing to an adult at will thing is weird.

But when Licorice sees the way Yonaka looks at Ivlis, the way she speaks to him, the way she sleeps nestled against his shoulder like there’s no safer place in the world-

“Mama,” he says, and Ivlis turns his head just enough to not disturb her. “I like her.”

Ivlis smiles a little. “So do I.”

* * *

_tell us your perfect design - satanick/valmont psl_

“It’s so sad, so sad,” Satanick complains, picking spear bits out of his skin. “My own son hates me!”

“Is this new?” Valmont asks, not looking up from his newspaper. Satanick complaining about his family life to him, as if he might care, is typical.

“No, I mean my youngest son. Glasses will come around eventually,” Satanick replies. “But Licorice, I thought I could win him over early…”

“Hold on.” That gets Valmont to glance up. “Did you actually name your child something that ridiculous?”

Satanick pauses, confused by the question. “Yes.”

“...Of course you did. No wonder he hates you.”

“Uwah, you’re so mean~”

* * *

_a waste of what was - satanick/valmont psl_

“You must be joking,” Valmont says, even though by now he should really know better than to say that.

Satanick grins wider. “Nope! Put it on.”

“First of all,” Valmont says, “it’s hideous. This is the most offensive color scheme I have ever witnessed.”

“I know!” Satanick replies. “That’s the point.”

“Second - isn’t there something fundamentally wrong with a devil making someone wear a Christmas sweater?” Valmont asks.

Satanick shrugs. “Not my god. Not my problem. And the holiday is fun! So put it on or I’ll put it on for you.”

That usually works, as infuriating as it is.

* * *

_resolutions fastening in your wake - yonaka/haruka psl_  
“We’re going to hitchhike across the whole country?” Yonaka asks, slightly dubious. “It sounds like it could be fun, but that’s a long way to go relying on other people…”

“It’s the anniversary of us ditching our bad situations and becoming runaways! So we should do something exciting to celebrate, and we crashed a wedding last month because we were hungry,” Haruka replies. “Ooh, or we could see if we can get on TV while we wear those costumes we got out of the garbage, the ones with the cat ears and tails?”

“...Hitchhiking is probably safer for my self-esteem.”

* * *

_all I hear are wars - yonaka/yosuke psl_

Yonaka knows Yosuke’s handwriting well enough from helping him study. Thus, it’s immediately obvious to her who wrote her name, and the names of the rest of the girls of the Investigation Team, on the sign-up sheet pinned to the bulletin board.

She whirls on him. “Cross those out.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says, with a tinge of nervousness to his smile. “Anybody could’ve written that up there.”

“Cross those out before someone sees them,” she says, her voice icy. “And maybe I’ll think about sparing you.”

“Okay, okay, geeze.” He knows better than to try to argue with her when she’s like this.

The girls’ names get crossed out thickly enough to be illegible, and Yosuke lives for another day.

* * *

_your eyes all bright and brim with tears - wadanohara and the great blue sea_

One of the benefits of having a small house is that you’re right there when your child wakes up crying.

One of the downsides is that you’re right there, but Cherryblod would sacrifice his eardrums any night if it made it easier to rush to Lobco’s side. “What’s wrong, darling?”

Lobco clings to Cherryblod’s nightshirt. “Father… I had a bad dream…”

He strokes her hair gently. “What was it about?”

“...You were making a scary face… and laughing...”

Cherryblod’s hand stills for just a moment before resuming. “Have I ever made a scary face at you?”

She shakes her head.

“And I never will, because you’re my wonderful daughter and I’d never hurt or frighten you.” He kisses the top of her head. “Remember that.”


	13. Chapter 13

_Friday night, and we’re gonna party ‘til dawn - trustfell_

The threat of exploding into blood is a powerful motivator. Cherryblod remembers seeing Taichi's remains from the doorway, remembers how badly it had hit Yosuke (they were the same age) and remembers resolving: never sleep outside of the dorm rooms. Don't even get close.

Now they're free. The Kingmaker is dead, he has both his sons, and even if he doesn't have his world back, that's enough. He doesn't know much about this world, and they don't have much, but as long as the survivors are together, they'll - well, survive.

But it's nighttime, and every time Cherryblod thinks about drifting off in their makeshift camp, his mind flashes back to finding Taichi as nothing but blood. Mettaton, an expert on explosions, had examined the scene more carefully than he did, and Cherryblod's glad for his sake that his stomach is literally iron.

Speaking of Mettaton.

"You really should sleep sometime tonight, darling," Mettaton says to him, sitting under a tree. "I'll keep watch, so you can trust you're safe."

Cherryblod rolls over, trying to get a comfortable position for the millionth time, as if that was the problem. He gives up and goes to sit next to Mettaton, bringing his blanket along. "I can't. Not because of you, you're a wonderful guard and I trust you absolutely, but... the rules."

Mettaton pauses, then shrugs his shoulders. "Well, I can see how that might be an issue for you. But you're not going to explode tonight, or any other night. You'll never have to worry about it again."

"I know that, but even if I try to sleep..." Cherryblod sighs. "Can I just stay up with you?"

Mettaton smiles. "Of course. You know I never mind your company."

They talk for a while, not loudly enough to wake the others. They discuss stars and how they're different from the fake ones Mettaton knows from his home. They talk about whether Mettaton gets cold (not easily, but he can) and whether he'd like Cherryblod's blanket (keep it, sweetheart). They speak over the future.

Sometime in the middle of those conversations, Cherryblod finds himself yawning more and more. It's harder to support himself, and so eventually his head ends up in Mettaton's lap.

"Tired?" Mettaton asks, starting to gently play with his hair.

Cherryblod's antennae are drooping slightly. "Maybe," he says. "I should probably move..."

"You can stay here all night if you want," Mettaton says. "It's not as if I have anywhere else to go."

"Thank you," Cherryblod murmurs. "Think I've got... a few more..."

He's asleep before the end of his sentence. Mettaton chuckles and waits for the sun to rise.

Sigrun is the first of their group to be up, and she considers trying to tease Mettaton over it, but something about the smile on his face suggests it wouldn't work on him. Too bad.

* * *

_The tale’s told, the summer’s done. - trustfell_

Robert Speedwagon never married, nor ever had children of his own.

It's not as if he doesn't have the opportunity to. He's a handsome enough fellow, scars aside, and later in his life he's rich to make up for his fading looks.

But he simply never had that spark with someone, and he already chased Erina Joestar across an ocean to help her: it's hard for him to match that level of devotion with someone new.

It doesn't bother him much. He still keeps in close contact with the friends he made in the most trying period of his life, and occasionally they'll joke about setting him up with someone (Yato, mainly, his love of romance is as strong as ever even after the fifth time Speedwagon has told him that he's really not interested), but for the most part he's content with how things turned out for him.

That said, he wishes he'd had to introduce more people to his less human friends earlier, if only to prepare him for this.

Cherryblod sighs in fond exasperation as Joseph Joestar, age five, tugs on his tail to see where it disconnects, which it doesn't. "Is he like this with everyone?"

"Most new folks he meets don't have all those extra body parts to pull on," says Speedwagon. "But he's the curious type, so... you might be here a bit."

"Well, as long as he doesn't start pulling on my antennae instead, it's fine." Cherryblod's antennae are pointed almost straight up, to try and keep them out of Joseph's reach. It looks a bit silly, but Speedwagon knows that having them pulled is agony for Cherryblod, so he'd be the last person to tell him to stop.

Joseph finally stops his tugging and toddles over to Speedwagon. "Uncle Speedwagon, his costume won't come off," he says.

"Cherry's a special kind of bloke," says Speedwagon, trying to figure out how to phrase 'I made friends with a shrimp once, but don't tell people that or they'll think I'm crazy'. "He... how do I put this..."

"Your uncle Speedwagon's very well-traveled, right?" asks Cherryblod, mercifully interrupting. Joseph nods. "Well then, he's been to very exotic places and met very strange people there. I'm just one of those strange people."

"...Is it really a real tail?" Joseph asks with wide eyes.

"Yes." At Speedwagon's unsure look, Cherryblod chuckles and lowers his voice. "He's five. At that age you should be feeding him all kinds of fantastical bedtime stories, shouldn't you? What's one more?"

"Guess I'll have to trust your word on it..."

Speedwagon doesn't want to be locked in the madhouse anytime soon. He has a suspicion that Sigrun would bring a team to break him out within the first week, and that would just cause stories even more fantastical than a shrimp person.

* * *

_No offense, but you’re the sidekick. - trustfell_

Lobco, Sigrun decides, is definitely not orange.

She doesn't mean it in a bad way: Cherryblod's right, this girl is the one of the kindest she's met, and she knows Aqua. But she's easily frightened and teased. Shy and retiring, she's the polar opposite of Mettaton, really, with a sign around her neck that says 'please pick on me'.

She makes Cherryblod glow with pride whenever she's around, though, and that's the important part.

Lobco is visibly a bundle of nerves when she approaches Sigrun privately and says, "Captain Sigrun? Could I talk to you for a moment?"

Sigrun gives her an easy smile. "Sure thing. What's up?"

"I just wanted to thank you for helping Father," she says. "I know it must have been hard to lead everyone there, and it must have been hard to make friends and then lose them, but Father makes it sound like you were really close. He's been through so much already, so... thank you."

She bows low, and it's a nice gesture, but it strikes Sigrun a little weird, considering that-

"You don't have to thank me for something like that," she says with a chuckle. "Neither of us could've kept from making friends there even if we'd wanted to. Besides, your dad's a great guy, any captain would be lucky to have him as their right hand man."

Lobco straightens up, looking unsure. "He is, but..."

"Also! None of this bowing stuff, since you and I are going to be sisters!"

Lobco nearly chokes. "Wh- sisters?"

Sigrun has a grin on her face as she says, "Yeah. Your dad's told you he adopted bombshell - Mettaton, right? And apparently we're engaged according to him. So we're going to be sisters-in-law. That's just how it works, I don't make the rules."

"Well... I guess it wouldn't be appropriate, for sisters." Lobco's nerves haven't faded, but she manages a smile now. "I'm honored to be part of your family, Captain Sigrun."

"Of course you are!" Sigrun claps her on the back and isn't surprised at all when she jumps. "But I bet you're not half bad sister material, either."

She wouldn't bring her on an expedition, or anything like that. But it's nicer to see her smiling than anything else, and she figures they can both go from there.

* * *

_Faded pictures, bleached by sun - trustfell_

Yosuke gets letters.

Cherryblod's right when he says that a shrimp person would be hard to hide in his world, much less a giant talking lobster. He doesn't live near the shore, so Doloz wouldn't have anywhere to be, and even if he was right on the ocean he couldn't protect them from government surveillance or media attention or scientists who wanted to dissect them, or anything else that would keep them from living the quiet life they wanted.

But Sigrun's world is good for them, aside from the whole 'post-apocalyptic world where a disease wiped out most of life on earth' thing. They live in a shoreside town, Doloz in the ocean proper and Cherryblod and Lobco in a little house as near to the ocean as they could get one. They visit her every day, and it's the best arrangement they could find. Doloz helps out with the tasks that a giant lobster is suited for, helps kill small whales when that becomes an issue, and fusses twice as much as Cherryblod ever did. Lobco still travels with her Witch, but when she comes home (and she's started to call it home, now, albeit slowly) she spends time with her family and takes photographs of the beautiful snowy sights. Cherryblod does odd jobs for the humans in town, even though he probably wouldn't need to work if he didn't want to.

Yosuke knows all this from letters that Doloz sends. More accurately, Doloz dictates them and Cherryblod writes them down; he recognizes Cherryblod's penmanship, and anyway it's hard to imagine a giant lobster holding an itty bitty pen.

As much as she talks about her own life in Sigrun's world, she asks about Yosuke's. How are things at home, how are his parents doing? (He writes that they're the same as always.) And Teddie, dear thing? (He recounts the latest annoying thing Teddie did and then says he's doing well, hoping he doesn't sound too mean. He missed Teddie while he was in the Vault.) And his partner? (He always has a story or two to tell about Yu in the most glowing terms.)

How is Yosuke himself doing, how is college? (It's a pain, but he's not flunking or anything and he doesn't plan to, even if he'd rather sleep in than study.) Has he made any new friends? (He knows some people from his classes, but it's hard to compare that to the friends he made while investigating a murder or trying not to be murdered themselves. They're great people and everything, but he doesn't feel like they connect.)

Is he eating well enough? (If she keeps sending care packages full of food with each of her letters, he'll be eating well long after he's graduated. His roommate thinks his mom's the overly doting, easily worried type. He's not wrong, but Yosuke doesn't write that part.)

Take care, don't stress too much, don't forget he has people to rely on no matter what. Love from Doloz and Cherryblod.

(You too. Yosuke.)

* * *

_Liar. Monster. Snappy dresser. - trustfell_

There are a number of lovely islands that Mettaton and Sigrun find far easier to visit than Cherryblod's undersea home, and they make picnicking far simpler when the pair can actually bring food that won't immediately get soggy. The pair sit with Cherryblod and Lobco, smiling, laughing, talking about the time they've spent apart.

Cherryblod and Sigrun notice at about the same time, and Mettaton and Lobco see the sudden wariness in their expressions. "What's going on, honey?" Mettaton asks, voice low.

"We're being watched," says Sigrun. "I don't know who it is, but-"

"I know." Cherryblod's voice is clipped and his smile is thin, the way he gets when he's struggling not to erupt into anger. "I'll deal with it. You two stay here, with Lobco."

Sigrun's answer is immediate: "No way. If you're this ticked off then I'm going with you."

Lobco looks between the two of them. "Father, who is...?" Cherryblod won't look directly at her, and something about that in itself seems to tell her the answer. She freezes, eyes wide, going pale. "No..."

After a moment of silence, Cherryblod says, "Fine. Mettaton, please take care of my daughter while we're gone."

"Of course," Mettaton replies with a smile that's mostly unconcerned. "Don't take too long, or your food will go cold."

Once Cherryblod and Sigrun have disappeared further inland, Mettaton turns to Lobco, who is still trembling and silent. "Now, darling, I'm sure your father has this handled. You'll be just fine-"

And then Lobco's clinging to the front of his chest and crying, and he doesn't really know what to do with that, except for pet her hair like he would if it were Cherryblod having a breakdown about things he has no business knowing.

She cries for longer than he's seen any person besides Napstablook cry, but eventually the tears stop and she just sits there with her face pressed against him.

"Feeling any better, sweetheart?" he asks. She nods but does not let go. "...Just take your time. I'm not going anywhere."

It takes Cherryblod and Sigrun about an hour and a half to get back, and when they do it's immediately obvious what they've been up to because they're both covered in blood. They're also both wearing satisfied smiles on their faces.

"He shouldn't trouble us for a while," Cherryblod says, wiping some of the blood off his face with his shirt sleeve.

"I still can't believe someone can actually come back from that," says Sigrun. "I'm gonna go wash up."

Cherryblod replies, "I'll be there in a minute," and crouches by Mettaton and Lobco. "Dear, it's alright. He's not going to hurt you again. I promised you, never again, didn't I?"

Lobco nods. "...You did promise," she says, weakly.

"And I meant it. Did Mettaton take good care of you while I was gone?" Cherryblod asks.

"He did," she says, and while Mettaton's really not sure how much he actually did or what just went on here, Cherryblod's giving him a smile like he saved the entire world instead of just hugged a lobster for an hour. It's only a little weird, and that's mostly because Cherryblod still has blood all over him.

"Any time."

* * *

_All ideas are good ideas. - trustfell_

Not many people in the vault remind Cherryblod of people from home, even if he thinks seriously about the question.

Zagi reminded him of his younger self, and also a little of the general type he used to have flings with when he was that age: disasters. That he can remind Cherryblod of himself and ex-boyfriends at the same time speaks to how narcissistic he used to be.

Aqua, if he squints, reminds him a little of Tatsumiya. That same gentleness, the same maturity... even though Tatsumiya is much closer to his own age than Aqua's. The same love and forgiveness. Also, the same ability to make clothes much better than he can. He wonders if Aqua danced.

The rest are solely their own people. Even though Cherryblod's older than any of them by far, has met more people than he could ever hope to possibly count, the survivors of the vault remind him of themselves and themselves alone.

There's no one for whom this is more true than Sigrun Eide.

If Cherryblod absolutely had to compare her to someone, it would be Helica: devoted to her job, and always favoring a straightforward approach. That's about where the similarities end. Helica has always been better as a soldier given instructions by Princess Uomi, and Sigrun is the best leader he's ever laid eyes on.

(With no offense to Uomi, but it's really not hard to be a more personable leader than someone who never speaks.)

Sigrun is brave even outside of battle, and strong even without a pike in her hand. Even after the twin pains of loss and betrayal, she still managed to keep going, to keep being the Sigrun everyone needed. She takes so much on her own shoulders, and chief among her few faults is that she's loath to let anyone take the weight off for her.

If she would let him, Cherryblod would be the first to take some of that weight from her and tell her: it's alright. You've done the best that you can, and there's no one who blames you for our losses. There's no better choice for leader here, and few better outside the walls of this vault. Even when you're not a leader you're a dear friend, invaluable. If we were to lose you, I'd mourn for decades.

There is no other Sigrun Eide. No replacement, no stand-in. She is his captain, he is her right hand man, and that's that.

* * *

_I could never break your heart. - trustfell_

It’s a Thursday night.

By Friday morning, someone needs to be dead.

Mettaton has no problem with either of these facts. Thursdays happen every week, and they’re no worse than any other day, not essentially. He actually used to like Thursdays.

And as for the second part, well. He’s a kill switch, and he knew this was coming. Whether or not he likes any of the people remaining here is irrelevant: it’s just his job. A part he’s playing, a performance like any other.

So he doesn’t have problems with any of that, or at least not any he’s willing to admit to.

The issue he is willing to admit to, then, is that when he turns his head he can see Cherryblod peacefully asleep on his bed.

Cherryblod spends Thursday nights in Mettaton’s room, more often than not. It’s a perfect alibi for Cherryblod: not a flawless one for Mettaton, since he knows he could leave and come back with Cherryblod being none the wiser. But he knows that that’s not the reason Cherryblod stays with him. He stays here because that’s the only place he can feel safe.

Mettaton’s fingers twitch.

It would be simple. He would die before he even woke up. He wouldn’t need to suffer. And really, what’s one extra day of life worth?

Mettaton stares at him for a few seconds longer before silently opening his door and slipping out.

There will be other people. He won’t have to relocate their bodies, it’ll be easier to get away with.

...And if he doesn’t run into anyone else tonight, then… then he’ll deal with that.

* * *

_No puppet strings can hold me down - trustfell_

Mettaton isn’t sure exactly how long it’s been since he’s last seen his family.

He knows they still live in that cozy town in the Sea Kingdom. He knows this because the letters he doesn’t open are still postmarked from there. Everything else he’s a little more unsure about, when he bothers to wonder.

He’d know, if he read those letters. But he doesn’t want to deal with his parents’ pleas to come back home and give up his stardom, so he leaves them in a pile underneath his unused bed.

Mettaton doesn’t know how long it’s been, but it hasn’t been long enough that he wouldn’t recognize them. Not when he sees them in line for his autograph. Yosuke sticks out the most: few people look pissed off while waiting to talk to a celebrity. Lobco’s visible nervousness could fit in with the people in front of her, if he didn’t know what this was really about.

He puts on his best smile when they reach the front of the line. “How can I-”

“You asshole.” Yosuke slams his hands down on top of the table Mettaton’s sitting at. Lobco jumps; Mettaton doesn’t. “Do you know how worried sick Mom is?!”

“I imagine she’s fretting over nothing, as usual,” Mettaton replies. Some of his fans are starting to take notice of the exchange, and he’d like to wrap it up as quickly as possible. “Do you have something you’d like me to sign, honey?”

Lobco holds out something for him, and he almost reflexively signs it before realizing that it’s another letter. “Father thinks they’re not getting to you somehow,” she says. “At least we know for sure this one reached you.”

Mettaton looks between the raw anger in Yosuke’s eyes and the tremble of Lobco’s lip, and after a moment he says, “I’ll read this one. But I can’t make promises about writing back. I’m very busy, you know.”

“We know.” It’s a grumble from Yosuke and a sigh from Lobco, who continues with, “Please take care of yourself.”

They leave before he can answer, and the autograph line moves forward.

The letter follows him into his room, where he stares at it for a good minute or so before finally opening it. He’s gotten good at speedreading fans’ letters and this isn’t any different, except for where it’s completely different.

He doesn’t find any pleas to come back. He doesn’t find any scolding for leaving them so suddenly and never contacting them. He doesn’t find any of what he expected.

What he finds is his mother worried as usual, but only for his sake. His father asking him how the star life is, and congratulating him on how happy he must be now that he’s achieved his dreams. His siblings updating him on what he’s missed back at home.

And in closing:

‘We’re so proud of you.’

Mettaton picks up a pen.

* * *

_Enjoy the calm before the storm - trustfell_

BLACK  
The tiny shrimp Cherryblod plush is completed, and of course Black shows Cherryblod first.

Cherryblod smiles, turning it over in his hands. "Is it narcissism if I say it's cute?"

"Maybe a little," Black replies. He's smiling, too. "But I'm glad you like it, Mr. Cherryblod."

"You don't have to call me 'mister', you know."

Black startles for a bit, then shakes his head. "You're much older than me, it would be disrespectful..."

"I wouldn't mind. But, alright, how about this." Cherryblod taps his chin in thought. "When you date my son-"

He has to abandon that thought, as Black chokes on air and starts hacking.

BRUCE  
"So that thing you were planning earlier..."

Bruce gives Cherryblod an awkward smile as he continues writing notes on the meeting. "It's not going to work."

"What was it?" Cherryblod asks. "So I know not to repeat an attempt."

"Well..." Bruce looks away as he writes something down.

Cherryblod glances to his sheet of paper. "...Can't believe we both independently came up with that and independently decided it had a chance of working."

COLRESS  
Cherryblod borrows Colress' drawing of Corphish long enough to trace one for his own reference. He doodles them for a while afterwards, Pokemon springing up in the corners of his notebook.

Colress chuckles when Cherryblod shows him just how many he's sketched. "You really are quite fond of them, aren't you?" he says.

"Of course. It's adorable, and you picked it out for me, which makes it much sweeter than finding one on my own," Cherryblod replies. At Colress' brief confused look, he goes on: "It's a gift you put a lot of thought into. How could I not appreciate it?"

Colress isn't exactly sure why he's embarrassed right now.

"...Well. I'm glad you're so taken by it."

GABRIEL  
Cherryblod finds Gabriel in the library, searching intently through bookshelves.

"Would've thought you'd investigated this place top to bottom by now," he says.

"Actually, I was wondering if any of my books were here," Gabriel replies. "I don't recognize any of the other authors, but maybe..."

"Are you just hoping to show them off to the rest of us?" Cherryblod asks with a chuckle.

"Nah. I've gotten one out of the vending machine for that." Gabriel shakes his head. "I haven't found any here yet. Figures."

"...If you don't mind, I'd like to read that book of yours sometime."

KOGORO  
There was a period of time when Cherryblod's respect for Kogoro Mouri was very low.

He can hardly blame himself for it, either: even if Kogoro's intuition about Mettaton had been right, it had sprung from all the wrong reasons, and Kogoro had been too quick to present it as fact. Anyone's opinion of a detective would lower after that display.

It rose again, slowly, after Kogoro showed some of his better qualities. His refusal to consider killing a person, for any reason. His desire to support the others in the vault in the areas he was good in. Eventually, his willingness to try to grow in the areas he was bad in.

But there was nothing that cemented Kogoro as a person Cherryblod respected like his rejection of him after Misa's trial.

It's always easier to pick friends over your own values, after all. Forgiveness is the simple route. It's the route everyone else took, for their own reasons, and while Cherryblod doesn't think less of them for doing so, Mouri has his esteem for refusing that path.

SPEEDWAGON  
"Has your hair grown even longer since we arrived?" Cherryblod asks.

Speedwagon rubs the back of his neck. "It's getting a bit out of hand. Can't exactly find a barber around here..."

"I'll do it. Sit down."

No arguing with that.

Cherryblod returns with hair clippers and a brush from his room and starts taming Speedwagon's long blond locks. "You really have such lovely hair. Is it practical to keep it this long? Met plenty of people who do, but I'd think it might be a disadvantage in a fight."

"If a bloke's close enough to my back to grab my hair, I've got some more problems," Speedwagon says. "But keeping it clean's a lost cause."

Cherryblod clicks his tongue. "Such a waste. How short do you want it?"

Speedwagon's hair ends up a little more uneven than intended, but at least he can wash it now.

SIGRUN  
Sigrun uses the men's half of the sauna, when she uses the sauna at all. It's supposed to be a social activity, and the other women she could socialize with are dead. So men's side it is.

Some of the boys get weird about this (Black, Speedwagon), but Cherryblod just smiles when she enters and pats the bench next to him.

"I'm surprised you don't cook in here, Cherry," she says, sitting down. Her towel is tucked securely around her: no accidental flashing, the guys get really weird about it.

"I'm not that small of a shrimp, it takes more than that to boil me," he says with a chuckle. "Lobco might not like it in her less humanoid form, but I'm sure Doloz would be fine if she could fit inside."

"Huh!" The more you know.

"That said, still would prefer a hot tub..." He sounds wistful in a way Sigrun's only heard sailors get over water.

It gets her to grin. "When we get the chance, I'm dunking you straight into the ocean."

"Appreciate it, captain."

STAN  
Cherryblod's understanding of the word 'kosher' is basically 'it means allowable, and also it might be a human thing'. After asking Stan about it:

"There's not really much point in having more than one religion when you know which god made your world and your species and all," he explains. "You're either faithful or you're not. Sometimes there's differences of opinion over how to worship that god, but nothing serious."

"Huh. Humans fight over religion all the time - sounds like we could've saved a ton of grief if we did it your way," Stan replies.

"Well, I mean." Cherryblod gives a tight smile. "Demons and angels are a thing that more than just a handful of people have to deal with. That's our trade-off."

"...yeahhh, never mind."

YOSUKE  
"Yosuke, really," Cherryblod says, with an exasperated sort of fondness, "I don't need your protection."

It's in the way Yosuke hovers around Cherryblod on Thursday evenings. The way he watched everyone speaking to Cherryblod when the shrimp revealed his secret, and only relaxed once everyone had made their peace with his past. The way he ends up as the one fussing if Cherryblod wears himself out exercising in the dojo.

Yosuke knows that Cherryblod is the one who should be looking out for him. He's older, more dangerous - more deadly. He has life experience and combat experience that Yosuke will never have, and a maturity Yosuke can only hope to reach someday, years in the future.

But even with all of that in mind...

"I know, but it's not gonna stop me."

Because Cherryblod is someone Yosuke wants to keep safe, even if he can keep safe enough on his own. Even if he wouldn't be able to help against any attacker who could overpower Cherryblod, he would hate himself for not trying.

Cherryblod chuckles, a soft smile on his face. "Suppose I can't argue with that."

* * *

_What hath science wrought? - trustfell_

Cherryblod is not normally a reticent man, but under the influence of alcohol he’s much more talkative, no matter how embarrassing the subject might normally be.

Having just finished explaining how a giant lobster and a shrimp humanoid reproduce, Cherryblod is talking about romance when he says, “But you know, types don’t matter much in love. My types is utter disasters. Doloz’s type is Colress, over there.”

Colress can’t help but respond. “Me?”

“You,” Cherryblod replies with a nod. “If Doloz were here, I’m sure she would have asked me to make an offer to you already. And since I like you a great deal, I certainly would have.”

Colress isn’t sure he follows where this conversation is going. He probably should just leave it as the ramblings of a drunk man, but curiosity compels him to ask. “As grateful as I am for that… what sort of offer?”

With a completely straight face, Cherryblod says, “I’d be gentle for your first time.”

Oh. Colress can work it out from there.

Cherryblod is the tipsy one, but Colress thinks he’s the one who’s more flushed than he’s been in his entire lifetime. “I… I believe you’ve had enough to drink.”

* * *

_If you’re curious, don’t wait. - trustfell_

Cherryblod is cradling his Corphish's egg in his arms - Corphish has been kind enough to allow him to touch it, but is still watching warily, and Caren is off to one side having a significant discussion with her Feebas about standards - when Colress says, "Pokemon breeding is a mysterious subject."

"Mysterious," Cherryblod repeats, one eyebrow raised.

Colress nods. "No one has ever witnessed a Pokemon laying an egg, and we know very little about what goes on-"

"Colress," Cherryblod interrupts, pressing a hand to his own forehead. "Colress, we need to have a talk. Do you know what sex is?"

Colress goes from 'Pokemon science is fascinating' mode to 'did you actually just say that to me' mode in an instant. With colored cheeks and narrowed eyes, he says, "Of course I do! That has nothing to do with-"

"People, animals, and almost certainly Pokemon lay eggs after having sex. That's the reason. That's what goes on. My wife laid an egg and that's how we ended up with Lobco," Cherryblod replies, flatly. "Would you like me to explain the process? I can, in as much detail as you want."

"I would like to pass on that, thank you," Colress huffs, looking away from Cherryblod's face.

A sigh. "Suit yourself."

About ten minutes later, after the conversation has returned to something more comfortable for Colress, Caren comes to join them, letting her Feebas splash around alone for a time. The first words out of her mouth are, "You're how old and you don't know where eggs come from?"

Colress is red again, and it's hard to tell whether it's from annoyance or embarrassment. "I know where - I'm not helping either of you with future eggs if you continue to pursue this subject matter."

Cherryblod and Caren look at each other.

"...I apologize, I'll let it go."

"Sorry."

They'll discuss the matter, incredulously and with a lot of eye rolling, between themselves the moment Colress leaves.

* * *

_Everything you care about will change. - trustfell_

Cherryblod finds the two of them not far from each other, as is only expected. Doloz has a few more scars than he remembers leaving her with, and Lobco looks tired in a way that he hasn't seen her in a long, long time.

They both freeze upon spotting him. Doloz is the first to speak. "Honey, is that-"

She doesn't manage to finish her sentence before he's throwing himself at her, hands splayed on her carapace as he kisses her all over her face. His antennae are wiggling in sheer joy, and he's smiling even with tears in his eyes mingling with the salt water.

Doloz wraps a claw carefully around Cherryblod's back. She's crying too. "H-honey! You're alright! We were so worried about you...!"

"Father!" Even if Lobco were the type to complain about her parents' displays of affection, it would be far from her mind now. She slides in between Cherryblod and Doloz's pincer to embrace her father, sniffling.

"You were worried about me, I was so worried about you!" Cherryblod turns to kiss Lobco's forehead, gently stroking her hair. "I'm so sorry. I never meant to leave you like this, and I'll never leave you again."

Lobco clings a little harder to him. "As long as you're here, we'll be alright."

"About that," he says. "We're going somewhere else. Somewhere safer, or at least less... here."

Doloz's antennae curl in worry. "What do you mean? Where could we go when the whole sea is like this?"

"We're leaving the sea, and this world," he replies. "There's someone you two should meet: she'll help us. I would trust her with my life, and have."

Lobco is silent for a moment, and then answers, "If you trust her, then I'm sure she's amazing."

"You should introduce me to more of your friends," says Doloz, almost chiding.

He chuckles. "I'll introduce you to all the new friends I've made, I promise. This way."

The walk to the portal that leads back to the vault is a fairly long one, and gives Cherryblod plenty of time to talk. He summarizes what had happened to him to cause him to disappear, briefly goes over the murder game (Doloz and Lobco are horrified), and then starts describing the friends he's made.

Gabriel, someone with more forgiveness in his heart than he knows what to do with.

Bruce, someone who's dealt with more hurt than any of the rest of the survivors and still came out as one of the kindest of them all.

Speedwagon, someone who doesn't see his own value but is quick to bring it out in others.

Stan, someone who he sympathizes with on a fundamental level, whose first concern is always family.

Mouri, someone whose values are unshakable even when it would be easier to ignore them.

Black, someone who feared getting attached but ended up forming bonds anyway.

Colress, someone who didn't understand getting attached but ended up as one of his best supports anyway.

Yosuke, his son, someone as dear to him as anyone can become in the space of two months.

Sigrun, his daughter, someone who could do him no higher honor than calling him her right hand man.

Lobco and Doloz listen, and when they finally reach the portal:

"I'm so glad you had such wonderful people to be trapped with," Doloz says. "I'll have to thank each and every one of them."

"They're on the other side of this?" Lobco asks, a note of nervousness in her voice. "They all sound amazing..."

"That's right. They are." Cherryblod sets a gentle hand on her back. "And they'll all love you, almost as much as I do. Are you ready to go, my dear?"

"...Yes."

The adjustment from water to air is a disorienting one even without switching worlds in the process. When Cherryblod's head is clear, he spots Sigrun first.

"Captain," he says. "I'm back." Beside him, Lobco stands rigid, tension in every line of her body.

Sigrun gives them both a grin. "I told you your daughter was fine. At ease, Lobco." While Lobco tries to relax, Sigrun glances around the room, as if there was a way she could have missed seeing a thirty foot long lobster suddenly appear. "Your wife's not here...?"

"Thought it better if she spent as little time in the vault as possible, so she'll be going almost straight from my world to yours when you're ready to leave," Cherryblod says. "...She's fine, too. Never should have doubted you."

Her smile is bright and easy, and the hint of tension that was in her posture melts away. "I'll forgive you, just this once."

* * *

Cherryblod asks, "Can I have you look after Mettaton and Ryuunosuke next Friday?"

"Sure thing, sweetheart. I don't have plans." Sigrun doesn't mind spending time with the pair, either - she'd gotten along with both of them before everything always happened so much, and she gets along with them now, more or less. "All day?"

He nods. "It's Doloz's and my wedding anniversary. I was hoping we could have the day to ourselves."

"Ooooh. Don't you worry about a thing, Cherry!" she replies, clapping him on the back. "You two lovebirds-" Pause. "Love... crustaceans?"

"Pleased you remember the word now, but 'lovebirds' is fine," he answers with a smile.

"You lovebirds can have all the time together you want," she says.

"Thank you so much. The other thing I was wondering about is if there were any nearby waterside places where people don't go as much?" At her raised eyebrow, he goes on: "We'd like to have some privacy. It's nice to have a candlelit dinner alone with your wife on your anniversary. Less nice to have people walking in on you, and..." His smile turns a tinge nervous. "Well..."

A certain answer he'd once given her about his ideal day appears in the forefront of her mind, where he'd mentioned lovemaking.

...Damn it, she was really trying not to think about giant lobster sex.

"East of the pier, there's an outcrop. Maybe not the most comfortable place, but most people don't go there unless they really like rocks." She's not looking directly at him as she speaks. "So... have fun?"

"Thank you, dear. We will."

Thank the gods anniversaries only come around once a year.

* * *

_Covered in my blood, sweat, tears, and other fluids - trustfell_

Crying is not exactly an unfamiliar sound in the Vault. They have Napstablook, after all, and if Yu knows anything about Napstablook it’s that they cry a lot.

Rosa’s comment of ‘They cry acid, so maybe they can melt through the floors for us? ...Okay okay, I’m sorry,’ had not been appreciated by either Napstablook or anyone else. Except maybe Amon. It’s hard to tell with Amon.

But this isn’t Napstablook’s crying: this is a louder series of sobs instead of Napstablook’s trying to be unobtrusive, or as unobtrusive as you can get with acid tears. Also, Napstablook’s crying isn’t usually accompanied by Teddie’s frantic, “I’m sorry, I’m beary beary sorry-”

It’s Lobco crying, it turns out.

Teddie turns to Yu the moment he comes through the doorway. “Sensei, help, what do I do?”

“What did you say to her?” Yu asks, trying not to sound accusative.

Lobco’s the one who answers, sobbing dying down. “He called me _lobster bisque_!”

“It was a compliment?” Teddie says, although he doesn’t sound sure of that at all. Lobco looks like she might start crying again at any moment.

“He’s not going to eat you,” Yu says to her, gently. “He just thought it sounded cool.” He doesn’t need context to know that’s what passes for flirting from Teddie.

“...Why would it sound cool? It’s awful. Some people have to worry about that...” Still, she’s not crying now.

“I would never eat a cute girl like you,” Teddie says. “Unless you w-”

Yu elbows Teddie in the side. Teddie shuts up.

* * *

_She puts smiles on everyone’s faces - trustfell_

Lobco sneaks out of the Mother’s Day celebration early.

It’s a wonderful feast, of course, and she’s glad to see the women of Dalsnes drinking, being celebrated, and having a good time. The food is good, even if she’s still getting used to having so much fish in every meal.

But there’s one person she wants to celebrate more than anything, and that person wasn’t able to make it to the banquet hall.

She finds Doloz by the shoreline, listening to the sounds of partying that can still be heard in the distance. As soon as she’s close enough, she gives her mother as close to a hug as she can manage with their size difference. “Happy Mother’s Day.”

“Thank you, darling,” Doloz answers. “You didn’t have to leave your party just for little old me.”

Lobco shakes her head. “I feel awful leaving you by yourself so often anyway. I couldn’t leave you alone today, of all days.”

They talk for a while, speaking of how different Dalsnes is from their ocean home and how kind the people here are even if both of them are still picking up some of the language, before a few figures approach them.

Cherryblod, Lobco predicted. Sigrun, Mettaton, and Ryuunosuke were a little less expected.

“Happy Mother’s Day, honey,” Cherryblod says first, pressing a kiss to her carapace. “Sorry I’m so late.”

“Oh, it’s alright! I know how hard it is to get out of parties like that.” Doloz’s gaze flicks to the others. “You all didn’t need to come out here! I’m sure it’s much more fun inside, with the others.”

Sigrun shrugs her shoulders. “You deserve being celebrated as much as everybody else in there does. So I’ve gotta come out here and see you, no question. These two-” she gestures to Mettaton and Ryuunosuke, “-just got dragged along.”

“Now, that’s not true,” Mettaton says, smiling with just a tinge of awkwardness. “I wanted to wish you a happy Mother’s Day.” It’s not especially gushy, but he doesn’t seem like he’s acting, either.

Ryuunosuke manages a “...Yeah,” which Lobco thinks is impressive enough for him.

Doloz’s antennae do a wiggle from happiness, and even people who don’t read her body language as well as Lobco does must be able to hear the delight in her voice. “Why thank you, dears! Won’t you come a little closer?”

One of the nicer parts of being a giant lobster is the ability to hug several people all at once.

* * *

_Trust no one. - trustfell_

Hallucinations as an incentive had been almost funny. Of course it was worrying that the Kingmaker could cause those at all, but other than that, things went more or less as normal. Mouri accused Gabriel of being a spotted elephant early on in the week, and Black saw a few things in his reflection that he refused to explain even to Sigrun, but as long as everyone kept in mind that what they saw had a very high chance of not being real, everything was fine.

Everything was fine until Friday morning, Sigrun heard Cherryblod’s wailing coming from the dining room.

The scene: carnage. Overturned chairs showed the signs of a fight, but what instantly drew Sigrun’s attention was the body Cherryblod was sobbing over.

The pieces of a body, rather. His hands had been cut off, a good foot away from his arms, and he’d been beheaded - not cleanly, either. Even with that, it was impossible to mistake the dead man for anyone else but Yosuke.

As other survivors filtered into the room and gasped at the scene, Sigrun set her hand on Cherryblod’s shoulder, but he tensed and drew away the moment she touched him. “...Not… not now.”

Alright. They could do comfort later. Investigation first.

Investigation didn’t turn up much. Nothing that could have been the murder weapon, for one, though at the trial Bruce said the injuries were caused by a sharp blade.

“There were stab wounds all over his body, but the actual cause of death was probably beheading,” he continued. “His hands were cut off after death, and his tongue was also cut out.”

Sigrun grimaced.

They talked in circles for a while: who had a motive (no one in particular this week), who had an alibi (nobody), what could be found from the state of the body (nothing). Cherryblod remained silent throughout the conversation.

“There was a fight, so we should check for injuries,” Sigrun declared after a while, with somewhat less enthusiasm than normal. She was already shrugging off her jacket as she spoke, and with some grumbling, the rest of the survivors followed suit.

Eventually, the only two who hadn’t at least taken off their shirts were Black and Cherryblod.

“...Do I really have to?” Black asked. “That’s- you know I couldn’t handle that much blood, and I would never…”

“No need. The culprit doesn’t have any injuries… it wasn’t much of a fight.”

That was Cherryblod’s first contribution to the trial. Instead of taking off his jacket, he reached into his pocket and deposited on his podium: a human tongue.

For a long, long moment, silence reigned in the courtroom.

Speedwagon was the one to break it. “Why?”

“I thought he was someone else.” Cherryblod’s voice was dull, and he stared straight ahead of him at nothing in particular. “That demon who hurt my daughter. It was his face I saw. His voice I heard begging me to stop. I saw that face, and I forgot about the hallucinations entirely. I only remembered how much pain he’d put my daughter through, and I…”

There was no need to continue with details. Everyone had seen the state of Yosuke’s body.

“...I don’t deserve mercy, or to escape from this place. Please do what you must.”

He fell silent. When Sigrun tried to put a hand on his shoulder again, he flinched away from her, and her hand fell back to her side.

“I hope he forgives you,” she said instead.

That, he shook his head at. “He might. He shouldn’t.”

The vote was unanimous and swift. In the pit, Cherryblod saw Yosuke’s grinning face and twirling knives, managed a small smile, and did not fight back.

* * *

_When there’s no cops around, anything’s legal. - trustfell_

Cherryblod is speaking to Colress when a man in an unfamiliar uniform enters the room. Immediately he tenses up. “Colress-”

“Not to worry. This happens now and again. It will only take a moment to resolve.” Colress lets the man march right up to him and look him in the eyes. “I assume you’re here to try to earn leadership of Team Plasma, again?”

“This time for sure,” the ex-Plasma says, eyes narrowed. “This time I’ll definitely beat you!”

“Very well. Let’s see if you’ve improved any since your last attempt.”

The man backs off, enough to give his Pokemon enough distance to work. Cherryblod stays to the side, watching.

As Colress said, it’s a completely one-sided fight. The man’s Liepards and Garbodors don’t stand a chance against Colress’ highly trained team. It’s over within a few minutes.

The ex-Plasma groans as he returns his sixth Pokemon to his Pokeball. “Next time! Next time for sure, I’ll defeat you!”

Colress smiles without a hint of malice. “You are welcome to try again at any time.”

It’s only after the man leaves that Cherryblod’s tension leaves with him, replaced by a look of confusion. “...Strange. Didn’t know even people from your former team were so honorable.”

Colress turns and raises an eyebrow. “We tried to freeze the entire region,” he says.

“No, I remember, but… you let that man come right next to you. It would have been easy to get a dagger between your ribs or his hands around your throat,” Cherryblod explains. “Of course I would have snapped his neck just for trying, but even when he entered the room, before he saw me, there was no killing intent at all. He really does want to settle this with a Pokemon battle he has no chance of winning.”

For a moment, Colress doesn’t know what to say. “Well… Naturally. That’s how we resolve conflicts here.”

“Strange that everyone takes that for granted. Noticed there are people who practice martial arts, but they seem to do it as a hobby, rather than for practical self-defense purposes. No one expects to be attacked themselves, and no one thinks of attacking others, not even the people from your ex-team whose entire goal is to harm other people.” Cherryblod’s expression settles into a frown. “Glad you’re safe here, of course. But it’s a mindset I don’t think I’ll ever understand.”

Colress thinks of the multitude of scars on Doloz’s carapace and the few stories Cherryblod has told of the state of his home, and says nothing at all.

* * *

_Not what he seems - trustfell_

Disorientation after dying is normal. You go from being murdered, to what feels like being asleep, to awake but very very dead, all the mess from your murder gone.

Today is worse than most greeting days, though.

Cherryblod stretches his arms out over his head as he exits Mettaton’s room. “Ah, I have such a crick in my neck…” He seems cheerful as ever, though, right up until the point where he spots Caren, when he freezes.

Caren’s first words to him are, “I’m sorry.”

After a moment, he relaxes. “...Oh, I see. I’m dreaming. Carry on.”

“You’re not-”

“I’m definitely dreaming. How could I have died? The last I remember is going to sleep, so it makes much more sense for me to be asleep than dead.” Cherryblod shrugs his shoulders. “No offense to you, Miss Caren. I’m sure I’ll miss you when I wake up.”

A few of the other spirits have emerged for the morning, and Kamui is here to be as blunt as humanly (vampirely?) possible. “You were killed in your sleep.”

“That’s not what happened,” Cherryblod almost snaps, before his smile returns. “Sorry. But if that were true, then, my dear Mettaton - would have to be here as well, wouldn’t he? I don’t see him anywhere.”

A short silence falls on the hallway. With what Mettaton said at the trial about his soul not persisting, everyone knows there’s a very real chance he won’t show up.

“So I’m obviously dreaming. I’ll believe you when I see my son and no sooner.”

It takes a full day for the reality to finally reach Cherryblod. He leaves his own room the next morning, sees the hallway still occupied by the dead, and sits down where he is, silent.

“...Are you going to be alright?” Tarrlok asks, hesitantly. “Well. As alright as you can be in this situation, I mean.”

“Don’t think I will.” Cherryblod pauses. “In my sleep, hm. ...Well, there are much more painful ways to go. I suppose I… should be grateful…” He’s choking up, and there are tears starting to form in the corners of his eyes, but still he’s trying to smile.

“Cherryblod-san…” Megumi sits down next to him. Without a further word, she opens her arms to him.

He leans into her, and that’s when the crying starts - loud, ugly sobs. When he manages words, they’re interrupted by hitching breaths and muffled into her shoulder. “I don’t understand - how could he hate me so much - I wasn’t the best father but I tried - why would he - and now he’s dead too, I never wanted - I don’t understand-”

“Shh.” Megumi strokes his hair, gentle and soothing. Once he’s calmed down, she’ll be among the ones to explain what really happened to him.

It’s probably best that he gets out all his tears beforehand.

* * *

_You can run, but I’ll still be in your nightmares! - trustfell_

Robots and ghosts don’t sleep, generally speaking.

For the sake of the people they’re sharing a house with, Mettaton and Napstablook are quiet, keeping their conversation with each other low to avoid waking even Ryuunosuke, who’s in the same room as them. They have plenty to talk about, so the nights aren’t as boring as you’d expect, but mostly they’re just not rude enough to keep their housemates up.

They’re not the only people in the house who can keep quiet.

Napstablook picks up on it first, stopping midword, and Mettaton hears it soon after: the sound of someone trying to cry as silently as possible coming from Lobco’s room, the next room over. It’s a familiar sound to Mettaton, especially.

Trying not to wake Ryuunosuke as he slips out, he heads to Cherryblod’s room and knocks insistently on his door. Cherryblod is not a heavy sleeper, but it still takes him a minute to answer, and he’s visibly drawing on the deepest reserves of his fatherly patience to ask why Mettaton’s woken him up at this hour before Mettaton says, “Your daughter is crying.”

“Oh,” says Cherryblod, the annoyance draining out of him in an instant. “Thank you.”

Mettaton steps out of the way so that Cherryblod can hurry to Lobco’s room.

He doesn’t overhear exactly what Cherryblod is saying to Lobco, when he returns to his room, only that his voice is low and gentle, and that the sound of her crying turns into hitching breaths which fade into normal breathing. Mettaton’s glad he can’t quite make it out even if he wanted to: he’d rather let them have their privacy.

In the morning, Lobco greets him with a, “Good morning, Mettaton. ...Thank you for last night.”

Mettaton flashes her a smile and waves a hand in a dismissive gesture. “Don’t mention it, darling.”

He’d rather be surrounded by smiling faces than tears, after all, and where better to start than at home?

* * *

_Well, this is getting weird. - trustfell_

“Ryuunosuke~” Cherryblod’s voice rings through the house, bright and cheery. “Ryuunosuke, would you come here for a moment? I have something for you.”

It’d be rude to ignore Cherryblod, gift or not, so Ryuunosuke pokes his head around the corner. “What’d you - huh?”

The first thing Ryuunosuke notices is that Cherryblod’s suit is torn and bloody in several places. The next thing he notices is that he has somebody’s head under his arm. Just the head, although the man’s eyes are still tracking movement and there’s a snarl coming from his lips that might be more intimidating if the rest of his body were not dumped in a heap on the floor.

Cherryblod’s smile is wide as he says, “I brought you raw materials.”

It’s a few hours later, after Ryuuosuke’s put up a crude sign on his door that says ‘Don’t come in, seriously, this means you Lobco’ and gotten to work, that the door opens. “Darling, I’m back- ohhh.” Mettaton looks Ryuunosuke’s latest art piece up and down, expression more confused than anything. “...Is he still moving?”

“Yeah!” Ryuunosuke cuts off a piece of what used to be a leg - the demon groans - and starts sewing it elsewhere. “Cherryblod said he won’t die no matter what I do to him, so I’ve pretty much got free reign to try whatever!”

“So he knows about this already,” Mettaton says.

“It was his idea. Apparently the one guy he hates most in the world can travel between worlds on his own and decided to visit.” Ryuunosuke shrugs. “If I’m only going to get one chance to make art again, I’m going to make the most of it.”

Mettaton shakes his head. It’s probably fond, or at least just resigned to Ryuunosuke being Ryuunosuke. “As long as you’re having fun, sweetheart.”

“Oh, yeah, definitely! I haven’t gotten to do anything this cool in a long time!” Ryuunosuke replies, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Hey, what do you think of-?”

After hours of being subjected to everything Ryuunosuke can think to do to him, when Roc finally manages to put his body back together, he flees the world and does not darken their doorstep again.

* * *

_Improper use of machinery could lead to utter catastrophe - trustfell_

“You’ve all become very close to each other during the weeks here. I’ve noticed that. If you’d like a chance to prove how strong those bonds are, here’s one for you.”

The Kingmaker’s voice is calm, as usual for this weekly announcement.

“Kill someone this week, and you’ll be able to give another survivor of your choice the chance to escape. Of course, this means that you’ll be executed with the rest of the group, but that might be a price you’re willing to pay.”

That’s the entire incentive, and after a few curses from Mouri (who storms out after shouting at nothing) and Yosuke (who tries to come up with something inspiring to say, fails, and mutters to himself that Yu would have done a better job) the room falls silent. The remaining survivors slowly shuffle out, none quite able to come up with a good enough protest against this motive in particular to be worth voicing.

Friday morning finds Gabriel dead in the library with a few stab wounds on his body being the most obvious cause. After the shock passes, and there’s so little shock after so many weeks, investigation starts. Mourning will come later.

Investigation turns up very little. When they arrive at the courtroom, it’s immediately obvious that no one is carrying a murder weapon.

Bruce clears his throat. “The actual cause of death was the severing of the subclavian artery with a sharp implement - unconsciousness was probably instantaneous and death would have followed within minutes. The other stab wounds were from before that, and there are defensive injuries on his arms.”

“There was a fight, that’s for sure,” says Speedwagon. “Made a right mess of the library. Did anyone find the weapon?”

A short silence. Sigrun shrugs her shoulders. “My amazing luck with finding murder weapons ran out, I guess.”

“You’d think a bloody knife or a sword wouldn’t be that hard to find…” Yosuke grumbles. “Did everybody look everywhere?”

They discuss places they searched. The first floor was thoroughly cleared: the second and third floors too. Upper floors were briefly glanced through but not given as thorough an investigation.

“If the culprit decided to bring a bloody weapon up several flights of stairs to get rid of it, it would have dripped somewhere along the way,” says Cherryblod.

“What if they wrapped it up in something?” Yosuke asks. “-but then we’d have something else bloody we’d be looking for. Unless they used a cloth and then burned it?”

Black shakes his head. “I checked the incinerator room. It hasn’t been used.”

Mouri strokes his chin thoughtfully. “Perhaps the culprit decided to hide the crucial evidence somewhere they knew we wouldn’t be able to investigate. Yes, it’s all becoming clear to me - the weapon must be in the culprit’s room!”

“Makes sense, but doesn’t help us any now.” Stan grumbles. “Did anyone find anything? At all?”

Murmurs that amount to ‘no’.

“So what we have is the wounds, the state of the room, and motive,” Bruce says. “...The subclavian artery is a good spot to aim for, in theory - it’s one of the arteries you’ll bleed out quickest from. In practice it’s protected by the clavicle and the first rib, and hard to get at unless you know what you’re doing.”

“So like with Yato’s trial, we’re looking for someone who knows what they’re doing with a sword or a knife. And… has someone they’re looking to protect,” Black says, quieter on the last part.

Yosuke is the first one to speak after that. “I use knives, but I don’t know how to aim for anywhere specific. I don’t even fight things that are human-shaped most of the time. And you know I wouldn’t throw you guys under the bus, right?”

“We’re all going to say that, dear,” Cherryblod says with a sigh. “Swords aren’t my area of expertise - I’m good, but I’m not that good, as I said with Yato.”

Speedwagon clears his throat. “I’ve seen my way around a knife or two in my day, but I don’t know arteries from a hole in the wall.”

Sigrun shrugs her shoulders. “I’m good with a sword, definitely. But like lazybones, I don’t usually kill humans. There might be something like that on a troll’s neck, maybe?”

Black scowls at her. “You’re implicating yourself.”

Sigrun flashes him a smile. “I didn’t do it, so I’ve got nothing to worry about. And neither do you, kitten.”

No one else volunteers their knowledge with sharp objects. Bruce clears his throat. “Let’s talk about this week’s motive.”

“I believe all of us are at least slightly suspect going by motive alone,” Colress says. “We all have formed close bonds here - thinking that one might be enough to kill for is… not unreasonable.”

“One obviously was,” Stan says.

They look to Cherryblod first, who narrows his eyes a little. “I have a son and a daughter-in-law, and I wouldn’t choose between them,” he says, voice still level. “I understand why you’d suspect, but - no.”

“...Sigrun?” Bruce asks.

“What kind of leader would I be if I only got one of you out of here alive?” Sigrun asks.

“Better than one who got none out…” Mouri may not even mean to say it out loud, but it’s audible, and the air seems to grow colder.

Sigrun is quiet for a moment too long before shaking her head. “When have I ever set my sights on anything but the best? I’m getting as many people out of here as I can - there’s no way I’d just pick one person-”

“Mettaton,” Stan says, not looking at her. “You almost did that with Mettaton. Right?”

“That’s… different,” she says, slowly.

“But the possibility is there.” Bruce can’t quite look at her either. “If it were for Black, or for Cherryblod…”

Black shakes his head quickly. “I wouldn’t want her to do something like that for me.”

“Don’t think anyone would want that to be done for them,” Cherryblod says. “...But it was still done, wasn’t it?”

Sigrun looks to him in alarm. “Cherry-”

“I don’t think you did it, dear,” he says, offering her a weak smile. “But we really have no decisive evidence towards anyone. I won’t vote for you.”

“...I didn’t do it.” Sigrun folds her arms across her chest. “I haven’t given up on my leadership. Even if somebody else has.”

They talk in circles for a long time. Increasingly unlikely theories are proposed and shot down. People sneak glances back to Sigrun when they think she isn’t looking.

After a great deal of time with no progress, the vote is called for.

“But we haven’t figured out-” Yosuke starts.

“And you never will, at this rate,” the Kingmaker interrupts. “Majority rules.”

Black does not vote for Sigrun. Neither does Cherryblod, true to his word. Black votes for Speedwagon; Cherryblod votes for himself. Sigrun votes for Speedwagon.

Every other vote goes to Sigrun, making a majority.

After every vote is selected, the Kingmaker speaks again. “So you’ve chosen Boundless. Unfortunately for you, you’re wrong.”

“I told you,” Sigrun says, but there’s none of her usual energy in it. The rest of the room is quiet.

“As per the incentive given this week, the culprit will be able to select the survivor who will be spared instead of themselves. They could choose to spare themselves, of course… But I’m sure you’ve already decided on your selection, Dedicated.”

Every pair of eyes looks to Cherryblod, whose face is impassive. “I have, yes.”

Black is the first to speak. “You said you couldn’t choose between Sigrun and Yosuke.”

“In an ideal world, I wouldn’t have to.” Cherryblod doesn’t look at him; his voice starts to break as he speaks. “But you understand - the rest of my family is dead. My wife, my daughter, Mettaton… I’m not like Sigrun - I will settle for saving one rather than risk losing both. ...And one of them will recover from it better.”

“...It’s him, huh.” Sigrun’s quiet. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t pissed off at you right now, but… I guess it’s too late for me to do anything about it.”

“I’m sorry,” he says, and sounds like he genuinely means it. “Two would be too many to ask for. I love you, but I can’t do nothing any longer. So...”

Yosuke is pale and shaking. “No - no, don’t do this, I don’t want this-”

Cherryblod manages to turn to Yosuke and smile. “I love you, dear. ...Please spare Meteoric, Kingmaker.”

“As you wish. At least the rest of you can know that the culprit will be taking responsibility alongside of you.”

Yosuke doesn’t watch the execution. The sound of it is more than enough; it’ll fill his nightmares for the rest of his life, he knows.

Afterwards, he stares blankly at his podium, even when the lights turn on. The Kingmaker says something, but it doesn’t register.

“Meteoric? Meteo- is anyone in there?”

No response.

After a few more minutes, a hand waves in front of his face. Yosuke looks up at a person he doesn’t recognize - and a person he does, though Mettaton is the last one he expects to see right now.

“You,” he says, and then as the implications reach him- “He thought you were dead.”

“So he did,” Mettaton says. There’s no feeling behind it: just a statement.

“He killed everyone because he thought you were dead.” Yosuke’s shaking again, this time with barely-contained rage.

“I didn’t ask him to do any of this, sweetheart,” Mettaton replies, flippant. “I told him not to get attached in the first place. It’s his own fault.”

Yosuke punches him. As expected for punching metal, it hurts like hell, but the pain is grounding.

“If you hadn’t just won the game, you’d get splattered for attacking a Kingmaker,” the other guy says, as Mettaton steps back and rubs his jaw. “Buuut since we were going to offer you the opportunity to kill us in a second anyway, it’s kind of moot right now!”

Yosuke hadn’t thought of that. It would have been a waste for Cherryblod to sacrifice everyone, including himself, to save him, only for Yosuke to stupidly get himself killed within the next five minutes.

A part of Yosuke thinks it would serve him right.

* * *

_Watch your step! - trustfell_

Yosuke and Black rarely visit Cherryblod and family together, so it’s a special treat when they do, and that of course means they have to see Doloz out by the shore. She’s especially effervescent when they’re together, and also more prone to trying to embarrass them.

“We’ll have such adorable grandchildren,” Doloz coos to Cherryblod.

Both Yosuke and Black turn red at that; Black is the one to speak first, while Yosuke just looks like he wants to die. “First of all we’re not that committed yet, or old enough, but you… do know we can’t have children, right?”

He had never known giant lobsters could look puzzled before this moment. “What do you mean, dear?”

Cherryblod steps in, mercifully. “Honey, humans can only have children between a man and a woman. Black and Yosuke would have to adopt if they wanted any.”

“Oh… oh! I remember reading something about that a few hundred years ago. How limiting!” Doloz clicks her pincers together, an annoyed gesture.

“It’s not like that for you guys?” Yosuke manages, probably to change the subject away from his own future parenthood. Black doesn’t blame him.

“We can basically have children with whoever we want to,” Cherryblod explains. “Same gender couples, polyamorous relationships, the moon, different species...”

Black’s eyebrows shoot up. “Hold on. The moon?”

“The mother of one of my friend’s children was the moon,” Cherryblod responds, calmly as if this is a perfectly reasonable thing to say. “She was born from an egg, and-”

“Can we talk about literally anything else right now?” Yosuke asks, covering his face with his hands.

Black makes a mental note to visit Cherryblod and company alone next time.

* * *

_We’re mad with power! And love. - trustfell_

Sigrun busts into the living room with the look of a woman on a mission, which is how Ryuunosuke knows he’s probably not going to like what happens next.

“Cherry, I’ve gotta borrow these two from you for a little bit,” she announces, hands on her hips.

Cherryblod turns to her, a smile on his face. “That’s fine, just bring the boys back in one piece by dinnertime.”

She grins. “They won’t be more than a little banged up when I return them, promise.”

Ryuunosuke doesn’t like the sound of that either, but Mettaton is already following her outside, and so he hurries to catch up. They don’t go far, just far enough that the streets are free of eavesdroppers, before she whirls on them.

“So!” she starts. “Little red asked me this morning if I’d help her with her Father’s Day plans. She also told me that she asked both of you, and you said no.”

Ryuunosuke clears his throat. “Well, he’s not my dad, and everybody’s probably happier that way… So it’d just be awkward.”

“Sentimental gestures aren’t my thing, and you know how I feel about family.” Mettaton flashes her a smile that doesn’t carry even a hint of an apology. “I’m sure you two will do fine on your own-”

“Nope. You’re both helping.” She folds her arms across the chest. “It’ll be good for you to use your creativity for something useful for a change, and it’ll mean a lot to him. So that’s that.”

There’s a moment’s pause, before Mettaton is the first to relent. “If you insist! But I’m going to need creative control if I’m going to be involved at all-”

“Little red gets veto power,” she replies. When Mettaton tsks but doesn’t argue, she looks to Ryuunosuke.

Ryuunosuke sighs. “I guess I don’t have anything better to do? This is still really weird though…”

Sigrun claps him on the shoulder hard enough to hurt. “Good to be working with you!”

(Lobco apologizes to Ryuunosuke later, while the two of them are working on decorations and Mettaton and Sigrun are busy debating potential lyrics to a ballad dedicated to Cherryblod and whether ‘conflagration’ and ‘crustacean’ seems like too forced of a rhyme. Ryuunosuke shrugs and says he really shouldn’t have ever expected to get out of it. And anyway, it’s not boring.)

* * *

_You can’t break what’s already broken. - trustfell_

“You’re mistaken,” Cherryblod says, loudly and firmly enough to get everyone’s attention. “It wasn’t Mettaton.”

Bruce sighs. “I know you don’t want to believe it, but the evidence shows he was at-”

“No, I’m not disputing that. He was certainly at the scene of the crime. But it wasn’t him, because it was me.”

The room goes quiet for a second, before Mettaton leans forward on his podium. “I was wondering when you’d come clean about it, sweetheart.”

Cherryblod laughs softly. “Sorry, dear. But I wanted to give them a chance to figure it out on their own - one last thing I can do for them.”

Mettaton waves a dismissive hand. “Don’t apologize to me. It makes the show much more entertaining!”

Black looks between the two of them. “Are either of you two going to tell us what really went on?”

“There’s not much to say,” Cherryblod replies, as evenly as if he had been talking about the weather. “I came across our victim in the process of trying to murder Mettaton, and I killed him instead. There’s nothing I regret about it.”

“Dad…” Yosuke looks uncomfortable.

Cherryblod shoots him a smile. “I’d have done it for you too, of course.”

“...Yeah, I know.”

Bruce clears his throat. “Do you have any proof?”

“You think I’m covering for him?” Cherryblod asks, head tilted.

“I think Mettaton’s not having much of a reaction considering you supposedly are about to die because you saved his life.”

Bruce glances to Mettaton, who simply gives him a smile. “It was his decision, darling. If he thinks my life is more important than his, I’m not going to argue!”

“Mettaton is just being Mettaton,” Cherryblod says, with a fond sigh. “But as for proof…” He rolls up one sleeve. It’s bandaged, and when he unwraps it it reveals a deep gash in his arm. “Satisfied?”

“...Yes, thank you.”

There’s not much to say after that. Cherryblod gives his goodbyes, they vote for him, he’s executed. The group disperses.

Mettaton attends the afterparty, but finds that most of the members are avoiding him. The exception is Sigrun, who bluntly tells him: “You were more of an asshole than usual today.”

“Like I said, it was his decision, and I wasn’t about to make him regret it. ...I’m sure no one wants to know how I really feel about the whole thing, sweetheart.”

(Cherryblod stumbles out of his pod and refuses Sigrun’s offered hand when she tries to help him off the floor. “Still bitter. Frankly don’t know what else you were expecting.”

She understands. He didn’t die so that she could kill his child herself.)

* * *

_When one gets trapped inside the past, dreams can turn to nightmares fast. - trustfell_

When they’re invited to eat with other families - Ryuunosuke uses the term loosely, because he’s definitely not part of Cherryblod’s family, so maybe ‘households’ would be better - Ryuunosuke is almost always seated between Mettaton and Lobco for dinner. Mettaton still sits at the table, even if he doesn’t eat.

They get invited to dinner a lot: seems like they’ve made a positive impression on most of Dalsnes. And when you’re invited to dinner, it’s polite to eat whatever’s in front of you, as long as it’s not something you’re allergic to.

That said, right now Ryuunosuke can’t help but notice that Lobco is looking increasingly green staring at the eggs on her plate.

Lobco doesn’t eat eggs. It’s something he’s overheard Cherryblod mention to a few Norwegians planning on having them over, but it seems he must have forgotten to mention it this time, or not been asked. They don’t eat eggs at home, so it doesn’t usually come up.

Ryuunosuke doesn’t know why, and really he doesn’t care all that much, but Lobco’s been decent to him with the whole letting him use her only camera thing, so he’ll try and pay her back.

“This looks really good!” he says, with a meaningful glance in her direction. “I could eat way more than just this.”

“Have some of mine,” Lobco says, the fastest he’s heard anyone pronounce four syllables. She starts shovelling eggs onto his plate.

Cherryblod gives him a smile and a look that suggests he’s going to get his hair ruffled later.

* * *

_Look at this weather, I could do better. - trustfell_

More often than not, Cherryblod dreams of the sea.

Sometimes he spends his sleep reliving happy memories. Helping Tatsumiya look after little Wadanohara. The group of children that called themselves the treasure hunters bringing him along on one of their expeditions. Updating Aom on the state of her best friend’s adventures with Chlomaki while Lobco was away.

Most of the time his dreams aren’t so happy.

Cherryblod never saw Wadanohara after her transformation, but he’s seen others taken over by the sea, and he’s heard enough from Lobco to put together an image in his mind. Dull red eyes and a cruel smile on the face of a girl who’d once been dear to him, a voice that he recognizes and hopes never to truly hear again.

“What’s wrong, Cherryblod? Aren’t you happy…?”

It’s enough to make him wake up shivering.

Tonight’s dream starts with the Sea of Death. Cherryblod spots a figure in the distance, amidst the skeletal hands and eyes that make up the scenery.

As he approaches, he recognizes the figure and hurries - missing her jacket or not, the red hair is familiar, and he’s held Sigrun too many times not to know her frame. Sigrun shouldn’t be down here, even if drowning wasn’t her first concern it’s still not safe no matter what, even for someone as strong as her, and he won’t let another person close to him-

He stops.

Sigrun’s eyes are red.

“Hey, Cherry,” she says, smiling without a care in the world. “Nice place you’ve got here.”

“Sigrun,” he says in return.

“I don’t know why you complained so much about this sea,” she says, stretching her arms behind her head. “Seems pretty great to me. You can beat the crap out of whatever and whoever you want, and everybody has to respect you when you’re the most best.” Her smile turns a little more lopsided. “Doesn’t that sound good to you too? You like killing people even more than me.”

A lump appears in Cherryblod’s throat. “...I have a family to protect, I couldn’t just-”

“So? They’d do just fine in the Red Sea, if they’re half as strong as you told me they were. And if they’re not, you just find a new family,” she replies. “Easy.”

Cherryblod swims forward slowly, until he’s close enough that he could reach out and touch Sigrun if he wanted to. He’s not sure he wants to. “I’m so sorry. There’s no cure for what’s happened to you, and it’s my fault.”

She shrugs. “Why would I want a cure? I’m even stronger than this. I should be paying you back, my second-in-command.” A gleam comes into her eyes. “By making things easier for you.”

Red floods Cherryblod’s vision, a moment before he wakes up in his bed in Dalsnes. He curls up tightly and does not sleep for the rest of the night.

* * *

_Science is a horizon to reach for, not a prize to hold in your hand. - trustfell_

It’s Colress who finally asks Cherryblod, slightly exasperated, “Do you not think you’re being a little too affectionate with Ryuunosuke? He is an unrepentant serial killer.”

Cherryblod considers the question for a moment, then shakes his head. “...No, I don’t believe I am. He reminds me of myself, really.”

That causes Colress’ eyebrows to raise, but he says nothing.

Cherryblod takes the silence as permission to go on. “Ryuunosuke and I share a few things in common. The most important, probably, is that we both think killing is fun.”

Colress swallows. “...Cherryblod…”

“It is. It’s a rush like nothing else. Every sport I’ve tried and everything that’s supposed to fill you with adrenaline doesn’t even come close. That’s why I was in the mob - not just because it was fun and I was good at it, but because there wasn’t anything else I wanted to do more.” Cherryblod exhales, not quite looking at Colress. “When I met Doloz, that didn’t magically make me stop enjoying murder. It’s just that I had something and someone I valued more. Only became the ‘good person’ you know over a long, long time.”

“...And Ryuunosuke is like you, you say,” Colress says, quiet.

“He has Mettaton, and he’s willing to not kill because Mettaton is more important to him. He’s a lot like me.” Cherryblod offers a weak smile. “Give me ten, twenty, maybe twenty-five years. We’ll find something else for him to occupy his time with. I’m willing to work on it.”

Colress exhales. “...Only you are dedicated enough to give twenty-five years of your life trying to make a serial murderer into a better person, whether he reminds you of yourself or not. Your title suits you.”

* * *

_Now who wants to put on some blindfolds and get into my car? - trustfell_

Sigrun said once that Cherryblod had the clearest eyes she’d ever seen, and she stands by that. The clearer someone’s eyes are, the easier it is to get a read on what they’re thinking; a troll’s eyes don’t show much of anything. Cherryblod’s eyes show his kindness, his generosity, his love for those around him… most of the time.

At other times, they’re equally transparent in showing his bloodlust.

She doesn’t even need to look at his smile when he’s taking down a troll: his eyes are enough, sharp and bright. They remind her of Mettaton’s, a little, when he’s at his most manic. The two of them are equally invested in what they do; the difference is that Mettaton is in love with the cheers and applause of any audience he can find, and Cherryblod is in love with the way something’s throat spurts blood after it’s cut.

He doesn’t deny it when she asks. “Haven’t changed all that much, really.”

There are a lot of reasons that Sigrun is glad Cherryblod is on her side. This is one.

* * *

_Fun and games are great distractions, but small things can have chain reactions - trustfell_

“You should have a bouquet.” Cherryblod delivers this with a smile, but there’s an intensity behind his words that suggests he’s going to be hard to convince otherwise.

While Yosuke raises his eyebrows, Black says, “I didn’t have strong feelings either way, but… Why do you think we need one, Cherryblod?”

“Because the moment Sigrun hears that it’s a competition, she’ll make sure to be the one to catch it,” Cherryblod replies, trying to keep his grin from growing and mostly failing.

“We’re not having a bouquet,” Black says, almost instantly.

“I really, really don’t want Sigrun to knock anybody over at my wedding,” Yosuke adds.

Cherryblod sighs. “You’re no fun. But it’s your special day, so as you wish, my darling son and son-in-law.”

Black’s face still heats up just as quickly after all these years.

(Sigrun is the next one to get married anyway, so it doesn’t matter.)

* * *

_It’s just like my life! In a way. - trustfell_

That Cherryblod attaches to Water-type Pokemon faster than any other type does not surprise Colress one bit. He is, after all, a shrimp: he understands the ocean far better than any human could, even a sailor.

Still, the way he goes about it defies Colress' expectations. He'd expected Cherryblod to dote on the Pokemon as he does with his human children, and for some, he does just that, showering the Pokemon in affection and praise. It works on most: Seadra is eating out of his hand after the first week, and a Corphish snaps at anyone who gives him the slightest trouble.

But that's not his only method of winning Pokemon over.

Colress is talking with a shoreside daycare owner specializing in Water Pokemon as Cherryblod plays with a nearby baby Goldeen. "You say you're having some difficulties with a Floatzel?"

"He's competitive," the daycare owner says with a sigh. "He'll challenge the other Pokemon to swim out as far as they can. With the adults that's not an issue, they know when they have to come back in, but that can be dangerous with the newly hatched Pokemon! We've had to fence him in for everyone's safety."

Cherryblod turns his head. "Does he win?"

"Well, yes, all the time," she replies. "Does that matter?"

"I might be able to help."

Half an hour of discussion later, Cherryblod is sitting on the shore with the problem Floatzel. "I understand you've been showing off for the other Pokemon here exactly how far out you can swim."

Floatzel gives him a nod.

"What if I told you I could defeat you at your own game?" Cherryblod asks.

Floatzel looks around for Cherryblod's Pokemon, then realizes that Cherryblod means himself and scoffs at him.

Cherryblod smirks. "What, you don't think I can? Or are you afraid of being beaten for once?"

Rolling his eyes, Floatzel treads into the water, and Cherryblod follows.

Watching from beside Colress, the daycare owner wrings her hands. "Are you sure this is safe? Competing directly with a Pokemon..."

"If anyone can manage it, it will be Cherryblod," he replies. "Besides which, he knows his own limits much better than a newborn Pokemon. You won't have to rescue him."

Floatzel speeds off into the sea, with Cherryblod following right beside him.

Time passes. Time passes further. Time continues to pass, and Colress begins to wonder if he'd made a faulty assumption in thinking Cherryblod would be able to keep up with a Pokemon.

Just when the daycare owner is about to call out her Lapras to go look for the two of them, they spot Cherryblod swimming back towards them, with Floatzel on his back. He's smiling, and when he reaches the shore he's gentle in setting Floatzel down.

"Wore himself out going too fast, poor thing," he says, as the daycare owner checks up on him. The Pokemon is clearly tired, but still conscious. "He should settle down some now that he's no longer undefeated. If he doesn't, call us again."

The next time they visit that daycare, about a month later, Floatzel rushes right up to Cherryblod and tugs at his pant legs.

Cherryblod laughs and kneels to pet him. "Have you been good? Not bullying the others too much?" Floatzel nods. "Wonderful."

"He's been behaving himself," the daycare owner says. "Like a perfect angel. I can't thank you two enough."

"I did hardly anything," Colress replies, smiling. "It's all due to Cherryblod's natural affinity with Pokemon."

* * *

_Growing up is optional. - trustfell_

Napstablook doesn’t like parties, and that’s okay.

Cherryblod knows when not to push someone into doing something they’re uncomfortable with, and so while it won’t stop him from attending the raucous parties they throw in Dalsnes, he won’t make Napstablook go. He’ll always ask, in case they do want to attend, but he won’t pressure them.

After the party’s over and the rest of the family has returned, sometimes Napstablook will ask Cherryblod how it went. Cherryblod describes the highlights of the party, especially the music.

He’s at the tail-end of describing Sigrun and Mettaton cutting a rug on the dance floor when a thought occurs to him.

“Napstablook, would you like to dance with me?” he asks.

Their eyes go wide. “Um… I don’t think I can…”

“I’ve danced with a pile of gears before,” he replies with a smile. “I can learn how to dance with a ghost.”

“I don’t have anything for you to hold onto…”

“We can overcome that.”

Napstablook hesitates a moment more, then asks, “...Do you really want to? I’m sure it’d be boring...”

“I’d like to, but only if you’re interested,” he says. “Don’t feel obligated.”

“...I could try it…”

Cherryblod beams at them.

Once Mettaton’s been fetched to play the piano for this exercise - sheet music is something that Cherryblod’s surreptitiously acquired from other worlds and not drawn attention to among his neighbors - Cherryblod faces Napstablook again and bows to them. “May I have this dance?”

“Oh, um… Hold on...” As Cherryblod patiently waits, Napstablook cries themself a cute hat with a ribbon. “Okay, that’s better.”

“You look stunning, my dear.” Cherryblod holds his hands out to roughly where they’d be if he were dancing with a humanoid partner. “We’ll start with something very basic. When you’re ready, Mettaton.”

Mettaton starts to play for the two of them, not minding at all when he needs to stop and start again a few times because Napstablook doesn’t get the box step down instantly. They pick it up soon enough, and besides...

He’d be happy to play this waltz for them for as long as they kept enjoying themselves.

* * *

_Ignorance is bliss, but bliss is boring. - trustfell_

“Mikkel, if you don’t mind, I need your assistance with figuring something out.” Cherryblod folds his hands together. “It’s a bit embarrassing to know as little about humans as I do, and I’d rather not bother Sigrun with this sort of question…”

Mikkel asks, “What is it?”

“I overheard someone referring to the ‘magic of childbirth’ today, but - I thought humans didn’t create children through magic?” Cherryblod asks.

Impressive self-control keeps Mikkel from even raising his eyebrows. It’s tempting to mess with him, but Cherryblod hasn’t done anything to deserve it, and he thinks Sigrun would have his head. “We don’t, it’s a metaphor.”

“Oh, I see. Much simpler of an answer than I was expecting.” Cherryblod pauses. “Does that go for mages too, or-”

“Them too. There are spells to help with an easy delivery, but the process itself is natural,” Mikkel replies. “...I didn’t know you had magic.”

“Because I have a daughter?” Cherryblod asks with a chuckle. “It’s really not anything much - everyone who isn’t a human has enough magic to make children that way, it’s just how much magic they have that affects how easy it is. Only have the tiniest amount myself, so I couldn’t make any on my own, and the process of combining my magic with Doloz’s is probably familiar to you.”

“Right.” Mikkel coughs and doesn’t think about Cherryblod and Doloz having sex. There are limits to how interested he is.

“A sorcerer or witch can also have children by borrowing magic from objects or places with high quantities of it - a friend of mine’s mother is technically the moon. I’m not certain about angels and demons, but someone with power like a Devil’s can make children with just about anything as a source, and a God can make new life out of nothing.” Cherryblod smiles brightly at him. “Thank you for your help. Won’t have to embarrass myself, at least not over that.”

(Sometime later, the conversation comes up again. Emil says, “So - wait, if they have children through magic, then they didn’t actually-”

“They still had sex,” Mikkel says.

“They still are,” says Reynir, cringing. No one else decides to inquire about how he knows.)

* * *

_won’t let you choke on the noose around your neck - trustfell_

When Cherryblod starts to cough up flowers, his first thought is to hide entirely. He can withdraw from his family, maybe leave the boys in Sigrun’s care for a while-

-but that won’t work, and it isn’t fair to her anyway. So the next best approach is to hide the flowers. If he’s lucky, he can pretend to have only caught a cough.

He’s not lucky. In the middle of a conversation with Sigrun he hunches over in a coughing fit and spits out about a dozen white flowers, tiny on their own but too many for him to reasonably conceal.

“You’re leaking flowers, Cherry,” Sigrun says, worry in her tone, and it only gets worse when Lobco’s head shoots up and she rushes over. “Is this something shrimp normally do?”

“No - it’s a known disease, not a common one, but Father…” Lobco wrings her hands together.

“I know, dear.” Cherryblod feels tired already. “Shouldn’t be happening to me, I couldn’t tell you why.”

Lobco swallows. “How long have you-”

“Only a few days.” He rubs his forehead. “What was the expectancy, again?”

“About a month, I think…”

Sigrun looks between the two of them. “Someone want to fill me in?”

There’s a short silence before Cherryblod speaks. “It’s called the hanahaki disease. The gist is that flowers grow in your lungs until you suffocate and die. The part we’re confused about is that the disease only affects people with an unrequited love.”

“...But Doloz is madly in love with you,” Sigrun says, and he nods. “Is there somebody else you-”

“No,” he says, firmly. “My Doloz is my one and only. So this shouldn’t be happ-” He stops to hack up another few flowers, with Lobco gently rubbing his back until the coughing subsides.

Sigrun waits until he’s done to reply. “Obviously it’s happening to you even if it shouldn’t be happening to you, so. What do we do about it?”

“There’s two ways of treating it,” Lobco says. “You can get surgery done to remove the flowers, but that removes all memory of your unrequited love, too. Or, if the love gets returned, that will fix things.”

“I don’t think anyone in Dalsnes has the know-how to take flowers out of your lungs and put you back together, Cherry,” says Sigrun. “And taking you back home to get it done isn’t an option, right?”

Cherryblod shakes his head.

“So, somebody else’s world. Gramps’s maybe? He’s dealt with some pretty weird stuff, flower-coughing disease shouldn’t be too weird. And he doesn’t know anyone who can deal with it, we’ll just check a different world, until we find somebody who can fix you up,” Sigrun says. “We’ll leave Mettaton and Ryuunosuke here for a while. We don’t even have to let them know what’s wrong, if you don’t want to worry them.”

He smiles, and gently kisses her forehead. “Thank you.”

 

Lobco keeps a close eye on the ex-Kingmakers and doesn’t relax until she hears her father’s voice from the doorway announcing, “We’re back.”

“Welcome back, Father,” she says, wiping at her eyes. “Thank you so much, Sigrun.”

“It was nothing,” Sigrun says. “I learned that I really don’t like watching surgery. It sounds awesome! But I was too worried the doctor’d mess up to appreciate it.”

“Surgery?” Mettaton asks, with mild interest. “We haven’t heard a thing about what you’ve been up to.”

“Sorry about that, erm…” Cherryblod smiles, and it’s a facial expression Lobco instantly recognizes: one he gives to complete strangers. “What’s your name?”

For a few moments, Mettaton stares in confusion. “Darling, what are you talking about…?”

It has to be unrequited love, Lobco realizes. It doesn’t have to be romantic.

* * *

_already dead to you but i’m inclined to explain - trustfell_

“Hello, my dear.”

“Hello again, sweetheart.”

A short silence.

Mettaton rarely finds himself at a loss for words. ‘Poised’ is perhaps not exactly the right word for it, but very little stuns him into speechlessness, Sigrun aside.

Right now he has utterly no idea what to say. Despite having been the one to approach him, Cherryblod doesn’t seem to know what to say, either. That’s probably only natural: Cherryblod can’t have been murdered before, and certainly not by someone he considered family. So it’s a new situation for both of them.

Cherryblod glances behind him, where Yosuke is trying very hard to make it look like he’s not watching the two of them (and failing, but at least he’s trying), then returns his attention to Mettaton. “Glad you’re alright.”

“...You really are the last person who should be saying that to me,” Mettaton replies, lips quirked upwards.

“Am I?” says Cherryblod, a soft smile on his face. “You’d have to do far worse for me to want you dead. ...Really, it could have been anyone, I was just the easiest target. Brought it upon myself, honestly.”

By trusting the wrong person enough to sleep in their bed. Cherryblod’s right: it was a stupid decision, and it got him what a stupid decision in a game like this deserved. Mettaton shouldn’t even need to apologize for it when every other killer in their game seems to have been forgiven.

And yet, Cherryblod smiling at him after all that Mettaton did makes him feel like he’s short-circuiting.

* * *

_dividing man from brothers - trustfell, forest covered_

Living in the same building as a different version of your adoptive son is about as difficult as you'd expect.

Takumi knows it isn't MTT's fault. He's a version of the robot idol who simply never had to go through a murder vault, who (he suspects) didn't watch his friends die and have to try and fail to pick up the pieces of the underground, but none of that is his fault. He doesn't know who Takumi is, but Takumi can't hold that against him.

It just made their first meeting a little awkward, and every glance afterwards a little painful. That's all.

Takumi's grateful that he wasn't roomed with MTT (he's roomed with his captain instead, so he can continue being her right hand man and console her if missing her love ever gets too much). Thus, he doesn't have to see too much of him. He doesn't run into him at meals, since MTT doesn't eat. He avoids the stage shows MTT stars in. They only pass by now and then by chance, and MTT doesn't give him a second glance.

Except today.

Today MTT stops, and turns to look at him with an expression he finds hard to read. Confused, mostly. "...Sweetheart?"

"Yes?" Takumi asks, stopping where he is. "Do you need something?" He can be polite, always. He can't be cruel to any version of-

He can't remember his son's title.

Of course he'd forgotten his name, that's something he and MTT share. But his title, that had been distinctly his own, and as little as Takumi liked using it it was a convenient way to distinguish the two of them.

But he can't remember his son's title now, just like he can't remember his own, because the Witch had taken it when he arrived-

His eyes are wide now, and he trips over his words. "Dear - my darling - my son, is that you?"

"Of course it's me," his son answers, an easy and familiar smile returning to his face. "Who else?"

He could laugh if nearly flinging himself at the other in a hug wasn't more pressing. He said he'd let his captain punch him first, for everything he put her through, but now he finds he can't wait for her.

"I missed you, dear,” he murmurs.

There's a moment of hesitation, like there usually is when Cherryblod hugs him, but then he's playing with Cherryblod's hair as he usually does, and his tone is honest. "...I missed you too."

* * *

_want nothing, I want no one - empatheias_

Truth be told, Diavolo doesn’t remember their birthday, either.

His memory is much better than Doppio’s is - almost anyone’s would be, since Doppio’s only goes back a few years and that’s in bits and pieces. Diavolo recalls his own childhood, but some parts have fallen through the cracks, and one of those is his birthday. He’s never celebrated the real one, and made up too many fakes.

It’s for the best that he doesn’t know. A birthday naturally implies a birth, and that’s too much of a connection to the past. It’s unlikely that anyone could piece together his identity just from a birthday, but he won’t take even the tiniest risk.

October tenth is an ordinary day with no real connection to either of them. If Doppio wants to take a day to spoil himself, Diavolo can easily allow it. ‘Wants’ might be a strong word - his first impression of Sigrun Eide includes ‘pushy’ - but there’s no real harm in it.

If Doppio were ever to start making friends here, now that would be a problem. Diavolo would have to step in at that point and remind him exactly where his priorities ought to lie.

But that won’t happen.


	14. Chapter 14

_unwind-protect - trustfell_

Mettaton and Sigrun suffer Cherryblod’s forehead kisses frequently, on account of living in the same world as him. Napstablook would probably also get them, if not for some physical barriers to the idea. Lobco, of course, gets them all the time.

(He hasn’t been tempted to give one to Ryuunosuke - not yet.)

As the equally beloved but less conveniently located son, Yosuke can’t escape seeing Cherryblod in person without getting a smooch to the forehead. Even his letters to his son are signed xoxo: hugs and kisses.

Black gets the occasional forehead kiss, and is embarrassed by each and every one. Cherryblod warns him that he’ll get a lot more if he ever becomes his son-in-law; that just embarrasses him even further.

The forehead kisses are the most fatherly. With his friends, he’s more likely to go for the cheek. An affectionate gesture, but not meant romantically.

Colress gets at least one cheek kiss per visit, and has stopped gawking at him for them; once Tarrlok had given the two of them a confused look until Cherryblod laughed and asked if he wanted one, too. (‘No, that’s alright’ - Cherryblod had settled on a dainty kiss to the back of the hand instead, befitting a politician.)

Speedwagon still turns red every time Cherryblod leans up to lightly kiss his cheek. He’s accepted that Cherryblod only means it platonically, but it flusters him nevertheless. Cherryblod privately thinks that it’s adorable.

Aqua gets cheek kisses, usually in the middle of hugs. She’s someone easy to be affectionate with, and he doubts that he could ever visit her without giving into at least a quick squeeze.

The rest don’t usually get kisses, but Cherryblod makes absolutely no promises. Some day he might be overflowing with affection for his dear friends, and if that time comes, it’s either kisses or gushing praise. They’re equally embarrassing: there’s no way to win.

* * *

_provocative maintenance - trustfell_

The number of survivors of any single event can only go down. That’s just common sense.

However, it doesn’t always have to be that the oldest survivor disappears first.

Cherryblod pours Yato a cup of tea. He doesn’t need to ask how Yato likes it: they’ve met up often enough, usually after funerals, for him to remember.

“Just us two now,” he murmurs, setting the kettle aside. He’d thought Pearl might last with them, but they’d lost contact with her early on, and Glory had been the one to inform them that she was no longer among the living.

“Just us two.” Yato takes a sip of tea. “How is Doloz?”

“Upset, but… She’ll pull through. You might be getting a doubled amount of care packages in the future,” Cherryblod says.

“If they’re from your wonderful wife, and they reduce my living expenses, I can’t complain!” Yato says with a smile that almost seems genuine. “How about Lobco?”

“She misses her witch more every year,” Cherryblod replies. “And Yukine?”

“The same as always,” Yato says. “I’d be nowhere without him.”

There’s a short silence, before Cherryblod says, “I’ll probably be going back to my sea soon, with my family.”

Yato knows enough about what happened to the sea for his smile to instantly drop. “Are you sure-?”

“Not much ties us to Dalsnes now. Lobco’s worried about Chlomaki, Doloz and I are worried about our other friends who may or may not have managed to survive, and… Dalsnes is a wonderful place, but our home is the sea. If there’s anything we can do to save it, we have to try, now that I don’t have people to look after any longer.” Cherryblod sighs. “I’d ask you for a blessing, but…”

“I can grant you that.” This is part of what Yato became a god of fortune for, after all - so he could do more than just hurt people. He rests his right hand on Cherryblod’s head, careful not to touch his antennae, and says: “Good luck.”

“That’s all?” Cherryblod asks, a smile tugging at his lips. “Thought a god’s blessing would be more elaborate than that.”

Yato waves a hand dismissively. “That’s just overcomplicating things. ‘Good luck’ is all you really need.”

“You’d know more than I would,” Cherryblod replies. “Thank you, my friend.”

* * *

_Eternal September - trustfell_

Fall in Dalsnes is much like the rest of the year; Cherryblod thinks of the local seasons as varying between “winter” and “warmer winter”.

Sometimes when Cherryblod can get out, though, he goes to visit Aqua, and she takes him to as many worlds as they can fit in their schedule. In fall, the trees are a hundred different hues of red and orange and yellow, and it’s a breathtaking sight in every world.

“I wish I could have showed you some of the seas of my home,” he remarks, softly.

“I’m sure they were beautiful.” Aqua squeezes his hand.

* * *

_Blue Glue - trustfell_

Time heals all wounds, so they say, and ten years of good behavior from the ex-Kingmakers has seen more visitors to Sigrun’s world, though most still harbor some distrust for their former captors.

Cherryblod doesn’t really mind. He’s just happy to get to see people he hadn’t been able to host often before, such as Tarrlok. (That Tarrlok and Colress are visiting together ten years later is another source of delight for him.)

He’s just finished describing a show the two of them barely missed put on by ‘my darling son’ when Tarrlok asks, “Has he ever actually called you his father?”

Cherryblod pauses, and Tarrlok’s about to apologize for being so blunt when he says, “No, not once.”

“...I am sorry to hear that,” Colress says.

“What is there to be sorry for?” Cherryblod asks. “It’s only been ten years, and anyway, it isn’t so important that I’m waiting for it. Of course I’d be overjoyed if I heard him call me ‘father’, but I know how he feels about me without the words.”

“As long as you’re satisfied with how things are,” Tarrlok replies. “For someone your age, ten years really isn’t all that long, is it?”

“Long enough.” A certain gleam comes to Cherryblod’s eye that automatically has Colress leaning away from him. “Speaking of family ties, when are you two getting married?”

The Kingmakers aren’t reasons to avoid Sigrun’s world any longer, but Cherryblod might be.

* * *

_Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair - trustfell_

Cherryblod has listened to Colress speak at length of one of his fellow scientists, Doctor Fennel, and her work in the field of studying Pokemon dreams. When Colress finishes, Cherryblod asks, “Can the same be done with a human’s dreams?”

“Err-” Colress falters for a moment. “The basic concept is the same, so it should be possible, but it hasn’t been tested much on human subjects… And there haven’t been many volunteers to try it. A Pokemon may have a close enough bond with its trainer that it doesn’t mind a human seeing its dreams, but there are few humans that are willing to let a scientist see something so personal.”

“Naturally,” Cherryblod says. “Then, it should work on a shrimp, as well?”

“...I believe you have an interest in this for reasons other than promoting scientific study,” Colress says, after a moment.

“You’re right, though I don’t mind if you gather data from the experience.” Cherryblod smiles, a wistful expression Colress has seen on him before. “The sea I called home doesn’t exist any longer. Even if I took you there now, you couldn’t see how beautiful it was. All I have left are my memories and my dreams. If that’s what I have to rely on to show you my home, I’ll gladly make use of them. ...And I trust you enough to know you’ll stop watching if it turns into a nightmare.”

“Cherryblod…” Such an honest affirmation of their bond is something Colress hardly knows what to do with. “I understand. I’ll look into it for you.”

(Colress has no special love for the ocean. He’s met many a trainer who specialized in Water-type Pokemon, who could barely be parted from the waves and spoke about them at length, but he’s never understood that kind of intense feeling for a geographical feature.

Cherryblod’s sea is sparkling. Coral scattered across the ocean floor fills it with a multitude of colors, what seems like a hundred different species of ocean creatures swim past and greet each other, and though Colress knows it’s only caused by the way that sunlight filters in from above, the twinkling of lights through the water give weight to the name Cherryblod calls it in conversation with a mermaid - the Sea of Stars.

From his vantage point, Colress can only see and hear what’s going on in the dream, but even that is enough for him to know that Cherryblod loves this place with an intensity only surpassed by his love for his friends and family. He adores it, and he wanted Colress to be able to see its beauty for himself, enough to put his innermost thoughts into Colress’ hands.

The moment red starts seeping into the water, Colress turns the dream machine off.)

* * *

_Keep It Simple, Stupid - trustfell_

“And if I’m not good enough for him, I suppose I can expect you to beat down my door…?”

“Colress is a grown man who can make his own decisions about who to date.” Cherryblod sips his tea delicately. “Not sure if I should be offended on his behalf that you think I have veto power over his choices.”

“Oh - no, I don’t really think you could stop him,” Tarrlok says. “It was just a joke.”

“Ah.” Something in Cherryblod’s stance relaxes then. “Suppose I do come off as overprotective of my loved ones, don’t I.”

“A little,” Tarrlok says, because there’s no way around it. “It’s a charm point when it doesn’t have anything to do with you, specifically.”

“Less so when you’re someone like Black.” Cherryblod sets his teacup down and folds his hands together. “Really - I worry about him, he’s my dearest friend outside of my family, but I trust you enough to know that nothing you would do to him is worth threatening violence over. Even if you end up breaking his heart… sometimes you have to let people you care for go out on their own and risk being hurt.”

It’s a sentiment Tarrlok didn’t expect to hear from Cherryblod, and he acknowledges it with a soft smile. “Believe me. I don’t want to hurt him any more than you do.”

“Glad to hear it. And, besides…” Cherryblod smiles in return, not quite as soft. “Can easily recognize a battle I’d lose, so it doesn’t matter either way, does it?”

Tarrlok thinks it might matter a little more than that.

* * *

_Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt - trustfell_

Yosuke finds Cherryblod in the hub at that machine that created the victim’s holograms, the one he’d never personally used but heard from Sigrun about. He starts to speak, but cuts himself off when Cherryblod presses a name and another shrimp appears.

Yosuke knows it’s not real, of course. But he’s never seen Cherryblod wear a smirk so cruel, and even though he’s seen him armed with a weapon before, the bat covered in nails that he swings isn’t the same as a sword.

Hologram Cherryblod fixes his eyes on Yosuke and raises the bat, smirk growing even wider, and Yosuke cringes before the bat passes harmlessly through him.

The real Cherryblod turns off the hologram. “...Fairly accurate,” he says, and it’s hard for Yosuke to tell what he thinks about it.

“Could you warn me next time?” Yosuke asks, even though he’s sure no amount of warning will really prepare him for that look on his dad’s face.

“Of course, dear.” Cherryblod looks over the list of names again. “Came here just to check myself out, but while we’re here… Mind if I figure out what the King could possibly have done to ‘kill’ any of us?”

“I’ve been wondering that since the first week. Go for it.”

So Cherryblod presses the King’s name.

…

“Okay, what the hell?”

“Couldn’t agree with you more.”

* * *

_deadly embrace - trustfell_

Even after someone you care about dies in the Vault, life goes on. Yosuke gets up in the morning, finds another batch of coins in his room, and decides to hit the vending machine after breakfast.

(He almost expects to find Cherryblod in the kitchen, stress baking again after another bad dream.

Almost.)

He’s not exactly paying attention to what he gets out of the machine as he feeds each coin in. It’s still morning, he’s a little tired, and the machine’s giving him mostly more of the same anyway: a haunted pen, a maid dress, shrimp cocktail-

He stops what he’s doing, pulling his hand away from the glass like he’d been burned.

There’s more than one cooked shrimp in the glass filled with cocktail sauce that the vending machine just spit out at him. He knows that none of them are Cherryblod. He knows that, but even so, just the idea of it is-

Yosuke staggers toward the bathroom to be sick, leaving the shrimp on the floor. He hopes no one else passes by until he’s collected himself enough to toss the whole thing in the incinerator.

* * *

_I didn't change anything! - trustfell_

Bruce would really spend more time pondering how a bird can pick up an object designed for people with opposable thumbs if the object in question was not a knife.

As things are, he’s more focused on trying to calm the King down. “Your Majesty, please put the knife down.”

“The King wants to help.” The King’s voice has a faint echo to it. He does not let go of the knife. “The King said, this prison is terrible. The King will take you to a much nicer place.”

Bruce knows a little about the King’s views on life and death, but he hadn’t expected them to extend this far. “Your Majesty-”

“The star the King will send you to is beautiful. You will have as much pudding as you want, and there are gardens to look at that you never need to water.” The King doesn’t seem to be hearing him. “The King will send as many people as he can to his Holiday Star, and then he will go there himself. ...Yes, that is the best thing he can do for everyone.”

The King’s lunge is surprisingly quick, but not so quick that Bruce can’t react in time. There’s a tussle, a short one with a swift end.

(Trust, as always, is broken.)

* * *

_non-optimal solution - trustfell_

Everyone expects Cherryblod to be unresponsive at the trial for Yosuke’s murder, just as he’d been during the investigation. And he is, staring blankly ahead of him, until Sigrun clears her throat and says, “It was an accident.”

Then his head snaps to the side so that he can stare at her instead, wide-eyed. “No.”

She doesn’t look at him. “We were sparring, and-”

“No. You can’t have. You can’t have, Sigrun.” Cherryblod’s voice is hoarse from all his wailing immediately after the body discovery. “This is an awful joke.”

“I wouldn’t joke about this, Cherry.” She glances at him, with eyes full of regret - a look that doesn’t suit her - before turning away. “I’m sorry. Go on and vote for me - I’ve always wanted to try my hand at beating whatever’s in that pit, anyway.”

“No,” Cherryblod says. His words are coming faster now, bordering on hysterical. “No. This isn’t happening. They’ve taken my sons away from me and now they’ll take my last child? For an accident? There’s nothing for you to take responsibility for, you can’t go, I won’t let them vote for you-”

“Cherry,” she says, sharply. “It’s me or the rest of you, and I’d be a piss-poor leader if I saved myself at the expense of my crew. This is just how it has to be.”

He says nothing.

“You’ll take good care of the rest of them when I’m gone, my right hand man,” she goes on. “I know I can trust-”

“Don’t leave me,” he says, before she can finish. “Don’t leave me, my dear captain, my only family in this world or any other. Can’t do this without you. I can’t, I can’t...”

She’s at a loss for what to say to him, so she just shakes her head, and he rests his face on his podium and does not speak again while she says the rest of her goodbyes.

His vote is for Dedicated. The majority, though it’s only barely one, is for Boundless.

Sigrun gives the fight against whatever’s in the pit her all, but eventually ‘Yosuke’ manages to stun her long enough with a wound to the gut that he can land a more decisive blow. She’s defiant to the end, trying to pick herself up off the ground until the very moment that her strength gives out completely.

Cherryblod watches. He leaves the trial room, and rides the elevator with the others in silence.

He makes it a few feet out of the elevator before collapsing to the ground and sobbing wordlessly, tearing at his hair.

The other survivors decide to leave him be for a while.  
 _sanity check - trustfell_

Colress doesn’t envy Cherryblod his luck with finding the bodies first. Cherryblod wakes early in the morning and seems to run into exactly the wrong area in order to encounter a dead friend every Friday, almost like clockwork.

Colress never wanted to be in his position.

He certainly didn’t want to be in this position with Cherryblod’s bloody body motionless on the dining room floor.

There are stab wounds littered across his body, but the most notable injury is that one of his antennae has been completely sliced off, lying a good few feet away from the rest of his body. Though it appears similar to his hair, there’s blood in a small pool near the base, and Colress knows from his studies of Pokemon with similar antennae that losing it must have been agonizingly painful.

Cherryblod’s death was neither quick nor gentle - he doesn’t need Bruce’s autopsy to tell him that. He must have screamed. He must have thrashed, just down the hall from where Colress was peacefully asleep…

There’s water in Colress’ eyes suddenly, and he rubs at them with his sleeve. Behind him, he hears footsteps, and knows the body announcement will be made shortly after two more people join him. He will be expected to help with the investigation, just like everyone else.

This time, he doesn’t know if he can.

* * *

_Swiss-Army chainsaw - trustfell_

Mouri isn’t sure patrolling on Thursday nights will do any good, or do anything but get him killed, but he’s a little relieved to see the figure that approaches him is Cherryblod. That relief fades when he sees Cherryblod is holding a sword in each hand.

“Cherryblod, what are-”

“Ah, I’d hoped it would be you. Thought you might understand better than anyone else.” Cherryblod holds out a sword to him by the handle, which Mouri unthinkingly accepts. “You remember this week’s incentive, don’t you?”

“How could I forget something terrible like that?” Mouri asks. ‘Someone kill someone or I will wipe out your hostages, every single one of them’. Truly awful. Worse than the randomized killing week in their own Vault.

“Good, then I won’t have to explain why I’m doing this.” Cherryblod raises his other sword and points it towards Mouri. “Fight me. Whether I die or you die, our daughters will be safe.”

Mouri swallows. “That’s- we said we would come up with another option-”

“The deadline is fast approaching. Letting my daughter die to save myself is not an option I will accept.” Cherryblod sounds utterly serious, and Mouri knows better to ask if this is all a cruel joke.

“You’ll risk the lives of everyone else here!”

That, Cherryblod cracks an unpleasant smile at. “You have so little faith in everyone else’s detective skills, Detective Mouri. They’ll be fine.”

Cherryblod will not be. He goes into this fight expecting that whether he wins or loses, he’ll die, but his daughter will be safe. It’s an easy choice for him.

Mouri can understand that sentiment, even if only a little.

He raises the sword Cherryblod gave him. “I have to say, I’m better with judo than with a sword…”

“Unarmed versus armed is unfair,” Cherryblod replies, “and if you did manage to take me down, you’d be more suspicious, Mr. Self-Defense Instructor.”

“In that case… en garde!”

(He’d meant to fight fairly, to give Cherryblod the respect that Cherryblod had given him, but he’d been losing so badly that panic had made him take a sudden swipe Cherryblod hadn’t expected him to take in a hundred years.

Antennae are delicate things, and Cherryblod can barely keep a hold of his sword once his screaming starts.

Mouri finishes it as quickly as he can, after that. It’s the least he can do.)

* * *

_angry fruit salad - trustfell_

“To begin with,” says Cherryblod, sitting down across from Tarrlok, “let’s establish that we can’t kill someone for breaking Colress’ arm. Would be an overreaction, even if they might have been intending to do worse, and more importantly Colress would disapprove.”

“Besides, we’re both reformed,” says Tarrlok.

“Completely reformed,” Cherryblod replies, with a thin smile. “So how can we make this person’s life miserable in other ways?”

Tarrlok smiles in return. “Blackmail has always been useful…”

“Gathering information isn’t my strongest suit, and I don’t have connections here,” Cherryblod says, shrugging. “Perhaps you’d fare better at it?”

“Unfortunately, I don’t have nearly as much influence as I used to-”

“Am I interrupting something?” Colress asks, coming around a corner.

“Not at all,” says Cherryblod, smoothly, though his gaze flicks to the cast on Colress’ arm and back up to his face. “We were just talking about how much we adore you.”

“It’s probably embarrassing,” says Tarrlok. “We were using pet names and everything.”

“You two…” Colress covers his face with his good hand. “If that’s the case, I’ll just leave you two be. Tell me when you’re both done.”

They wait until Colress leaves, before Tarrlok asks, “What about intimidation tactics?”

“Not a bad idea.”

* * *

_to understand recursion, you must first understand recursion - trustfell_

A number of graves in the Celestial Tower are very, very old - she knows because she works there. They date back to hundreds of years ago. The older a grave is, the less likely it is for someone to visit and leave flowers or any other tokens. That’s only natural - humans pass away, too.

But there’s a small handful of graves that are hundreds of years old and yet, every year on the anniversary of the Pokemon’s deaths, someone leaves them flowers. She says ‘someone’ because she’s never seen the trainer in question, and neither have any of her coworkers who’ve worked in the tower longer than her.

It’s enough to make someone curious. The next time one of those dates rolls around (for a Corphish named Nagisa) she camps out at the grave the entire time, even staying after hours when most people consider the tower too spooky to enter.

Around two in the morning, someone appears at the doorway. A man, certainly, carrying a bouquet of white lilies. That doesn’t grab her attention as much as his tail, curled up behind him.

“Isn’t it a bit late to be up?” he asks her, and she jolts.

“Well - yes, but - I wanted to see who was leaving the flowers,” she replies, not quite able to keep from staring at his tail.

“Now you know why I don’t come by when there are people here,” he says. He approaches the grave and lays the lilies down in front of it, murmuring something she doesn’t quite catch.

“Whose Pokemon were they?” she can’t help but ask.

The man gives her a look she sees mostly on the faces of Ghost Pokemon: he has the eyes of someone very old and very, very tired. “Mine.” 

She decides not to tell her coworkers about this the next morning.

* * *

_Read The F***ing Manual - trustfell_

Colress isn’t entirely sure what he expected, when Cherryblod offered to sleep with him. He’d personally gone and confirmed with Doloz that she was fine with this arrangement before he even considered the possibility of accepting. Apparently, they’ve been ‘swingers’ for much longer than Colress has even been alive.

Colress thinks perhaps he predicted something a little less… affectionate, from Cherryblod. He knows Cherryblod cares for him, but he’s also aware that the man loves his wife above all else, and Colress is very much not a giant lobster. Perhaps it’d be a more practical arrangement, the bare minimum required to produce a pleasant result in both parties-

But no, Cherryblod practically showers him in kisses when they reach Colress’ bedroom. Some are quick, barely even a peck, and some are deep enough to leave Colress panting for breath when they break. He can’t claim to have much experience in this area, but Cherryblod obviously can.

“Try to relax,” Cherryblod murmurs, hands at the lapels of Colress’ coat. “Won’t do anything to you that you don’t want me to, and I promise I’ll do my very best to make sure you have a good time. May I take this off?”

It’s only a coat. Colress nods, and Cherryblod sets the coat aside. He asks a similar question when it comes to unbuttoning Colress’ shirt, and that Colress hesitates a moment longer before acquiescing to.

Cherryblod’s mouth is warm and wet, and when it’s sealed to the juncture of Colress’ neck Colress can’t help but moan. It’s a noise he hasn’t heard from himself very often before - almost to the point of being unrecognizable - and he suspects he will be hearing it a great deal more often tonight.

Feeling that perhaps he should be doing some touching and playing more of an active role, Colress pulls off his gloves. Cherryblod follows suit - he pulls off his gloves with his teeth, which Colress hadn’t realized until now that he finds very attractive. When Colress thumbs at Cherryblod’s suit jacket, Cherryblod sheds it for him, accompanied by tie and shirt.

He has scars, painful-looking and plentiful. Colress remembers this from the vault, but it’s another thing to see it in this kind of intimate setting. He hesitates, hands hovering over Cherryblod’s chest until Cherryblod gently takes them and places them right onto the worst of the scars.

“Don’t mind if you touch,” he murmurs. “Not afraid of you knowing any of my history. Not when it’s you.”

Colress really doesn’t know what to say to that. He rubs at the scars instead, gently at first and then more firmly when Cherryblod exhibits a favorable response. Cherryblod pulls him in for another kiss, a deep one accompanied by his own hands wandering over Colress’ chest, and almost grins when he hears Colress whimper.

Colress’ pants are getting very uncomfortable, but he isn’t sure how to breach the topic of how to proceed.

Cherryblod, mercifully, does it for him. “May I touch you?” he asks, and his hand is already on Colress’ leg, so it’s hard to misinterpret what that means.

Colress swallows. “I - yes. You may.” He kicks off his shoes and socks in order to get his pants properly off, and then it’s nothing but underwear separating him from Cherryblod.

Cherryblod strokes him through the fabric first. Colress is half-hard already, and this only serves to make him strain further, such that it’s a relief when Cherryblod finally tugs his boxers out of the way.

It feels almost entirely different with a different person’s hand on him, instead of the (fairly rare) times he’s had his hand on himself. Without the feedback, he can focus better on the sensation itself.

“Ah, perhaps I should have asked earlier.” Cherryblod reaches into his pants pocket to pull out a small tube. “Did you want to fuck me or should I fuck you?”

...Somehow the language seems surprisingly crass for Cherryblod, even shirtless and with his hand on Colress. He can’t help but snicker.

Being laughed at only makes Cherryblod smile more. “There really isn’t an elegant way to put that. Just varying degrees of crude.”

“I suppose there isn’t.” Now that Colress actually considers the question… “Perhaps… it might be best if you were to - lead.”

“As you wish.” Cherryblod shucks his own pants and underwear first, then spreads some gel from the tube over his fingers. “Might be a bit uncomfortable, but I’ll go slow.”

He’s true to his word, stretching Colress out so slowly that there’s only a bit of discomfort, rather than the pain Colress had been led to expect would happen. He’s gentle, distracting Colress with more kisses and his free hand continuing to stroke him. Even as one, then two fingers are added, he’s so careful with Colress that it’s actually kind of making him impatient.

Colress knows better to complain, however, so he bites his tongue until Cherryblod finally, finally spreads the lube on himself and then lines himself up. Even then he pauses. “You’ll tell me if I hurt you?”

“Of course, Cherryblod,” Colress says with a slight huff. “There is nothing you need to worry about.”

Cherryblod gives him a small smile, then slowly presses in.

...Ah. It’s thicker than even three fingers, and hotter. The sensation is mostly one of discomfort rather than of pleasure, but Colress knows at least a little of how this is done and figures that can change quickly enough, once Cherryblod starts moving, which he isn’t doing.

“Cherryblod-”

“Want this to be good for you,” Cherryblod says. There’s a strain in his voice that suggests that it’s very good for him right now. “You’re dear to me and I would never live with myself if I hurt you even accidentally.”

Colress sighs. “I know that, and I’m grateful for it. But right now what I would like is for you to… f… do me.”

Cherryblod quirks a smile again at Colress’ brief attempt to swear, then pulls out almost all the way before pressing in again. Motion does make this better - Cherryblod’s slow at first, but gradually picks up speed as Colress rocks his hips back against him, and the friction inside him is beginning to become satisfying, until-

Colress knows the name for what Cherryblod just rubbed against, but that doesn’t do justice for the feeling of sparks inside him it sets off. He moans, clutching onto his sheets tightly, and can’t focus on Cherryblod’s face long enough to see him grin.

Cherryblod keeps rubbing against that same spot with almost every thrust, and Colress can’t keep his eyes open. Over the sound of his moans, he hears Cherryblod gasping his name, over and over again. He feels Cherryblod’s hand on him again, matching the rhythm of his thrusts.

He doesn’t think he lasts very long, possibly coming embarrassingly quickly, but it’s hard to tell without a study to compare it to. It’s certainly the most intense climax he’s ever had.

Cherryblod takes longer, and it leaves him somewhat sore, but immensely satisfied. After Cherryblod moans his name one last time and spills inside of him, Colress tugs him down for another kiss.

He lets Cherryblod take care of the cleaning up, then says when Cherryblod settles down beside him, “That went differently than I predicted it would.”

“Oh?” Cherryblod snuggles close into his side. “You were fine, most people who are inexperienced last about that long-”

“Not that part,” Colress interrupts, face flushing again. “But given how much you love your wife, I expected you to be less… affectionate? Like what you’re doing now, for example.”

“Oh, that.” Cherryblod smiles gently and pecks his cheek. “I love my honey more than anyone else in any world. But you, you’re my dearest friend - I love you, just in a different way than her. Couldn’t possibly be anything less than affectionate when it comes to you.”

Somehow, that’s the most embarrassing thing Cherryblod’s said all evening.

* * *

_banana problem - trustfell_

Two people dead over Thursday night is never a pleasant thing to find out about Friday morning, but this is worse than Tarrlok and Lynne.

Yosuke would be bad enough on his own: Black goes very quiet and still when he sees him there, propped up against the wall of the dining room. He has a blanket covering him, but that doesn’t change that he’s unnaturally still and pale, and removing the blanket reveals that most of his stomach is gone. It’s a sight that almost makes Black sick, and he excuses himself.

That doesn’t bring the body announcement on its own. A few of the others search the rest of the vault and encounter Aiden in the second floor stairwell, dismembered. Besides the multiple stab wounds, his limbs have been cut off and left lying on the floor, and the blood on his face prompts Bruce to open his mouth and confirm that his tongue was cut out.

Investigation is quick. Cherryblod helps examine the area around Aiden’s body and doesn’t say a word about the scene in the dining room. No one has the heart to bring it up.

The trial is quick, too.

“Aiden killed Yosuke.” Cherryblod folds his hands on his podium, speaking plainly. “He killed my darling son, I saw it happen, and I killed him. Any questions?”

Speedwagon, who is standing next to him, automatically takes a step away. “Cherryblod, that’s…”

Sigrun, also standing next to him, doesn’t. She only clenches her fists instead. “...At least you’re saving us some time, Cherry.”

“Not willing to condemn you all to death today,” Cherryblod says, not looking at her. “Thought I’d get to the point.”

Black clears his throat. “If you’d told us you’d seen him do it, we would probably have believed you,” he says. “And he still would have died, without you having to die for it.”

“That’s true,” Cherryblod says, and gives a very thin smile. “But, you see… I wasn’t just interested in him dying. Needed him to suffer. And if you want something done right...”

“I’m not sure that’s meant to apply to torture,” Speedwagon says, taking another step back.

“Why wouldn’t it?” Cherryblod’s smile grows. “Don’t trust the Kingmaker to do anything. Especially not punish my son’s killer properly.”

(Sigrun still hugs him before he goes. The rest do not.)

* * *

_marching ants - trustfell_

Half of the books in the library are on the floor when Mettaton finds Cherryblod there. He’s flipping through book after book with such single-minded intensity that he doesn’t notice Mettaton until he clears his throat.

“Ah- hello, dear,” Cherryblod says, briefly glancing up at him, before returning his attention to the book in his hands.

“Find anything useful, darling?” Mettaton asks, leaning against a wall.

“Not yet.” Cherryblod sets the book back on the shelf, then moves onto the next one. “Can’t know for certain if there’s anything to find until I check every single one.”

Mettaton glances at the amount of books that have been yet to be searched through. “As long as you don’t pass out in the middle.”

“I’m desperate, I’m not stupid.” After a few moments, Cherryblod turns to Mettaton. “...That incentive.”

Mettaton stiffens, but tries not to show it. “What about it?”

“Wouldn’t it be objectively better if I disappeared from my world and everything I did was reversed? For the hundreds of people that I killed, and their families. I’m sure they think so, at least.” Cherryblod gives a hollow smile, and goes on before Mettaton can reply. “And yet if that means Lobco would disappear as well, I can’t possibly allow it. ...Truly am a selfish person, aren’t I.”

“...You can say you’re selfish as often as you want, but I won’t believe it,” Mettaton says. It’s not directly about the motive, so it’s easier to talk about. “Most people would want to keep their children alive, honey. Even if it means strangers have to die.”

“Suppose so.” Cherryblod sounds unconvinced, but doesn’t argue further. “If you’re not busy, would you mind helping me search?”

Mettaton doubts anything useful will come up in searching, and yet his answer is easy when he looks at the weariness of Cherryblod’s expression. “Not at all.”

* * *

_film at eleven - trustfell_

Mettaton answers all kinds of texts, and he isn’t terribly surprised when one shows up during the second truth or dare party.

It’s from Shirazu. ‘fmk sigrun cherry mettaton??’

He’s not sure whether he should be laughing right now, which is good because it would draw attention anyway.

‘I assume you were dared to do this, Sacrificial.’

‘y’

It doesn’t take all that long to consider. When he factors in being ‘in character’, there’s only one answer that makes any sense.

‘Dedicated is a married man, so I’d kill him first. Bombastic is not the type of person I’d expect any commitment from. So that leaves Boundless for marriage.’

He’s already sent the message before he realizes how weird saying that makes him feel.

Oh, well. He’s playing the role of Kingmaker, not being himself - it doesn’t mean a thing.

* * *

_Don't do that then! - trustfell_

Cherryblod brings a knife into the pit. He looks like he’s ready to put up a fight, until not only Aiden, but Yosuke too, appear in front of him.

He has no chance after that. He isn’t even able to resist having a pair of knives driven into his chest. The gunshot is just unnecessary.

After that, he doesn’t remember anything until waking up in the hallway. He sees Yosuke there as well, where he’d passed on, and doesn’t wait for him to finish getting up before tackling him in a hug. They fall over again.

“Yosuke, my dear, I’m so sorry, I wasn’t able to…” Cherryblod buries his face against Yosuke’s shoulder.

Yosuke rubs Cherryblod’s back, awkward but trying to be reassuring, before asking, “What are you doing here, Dad? Don’t tell me everyone got it wrong, or-?”

“Ah. No.” That makes Cherryblod pull off of him, though he’d like to keep hugging him for the next ten years, at least. “Killed him myself. So I was the culprit for that trial.”

The expression Yosuke gives him is a combination of horrified and disappointed. It’s actually impressive how he can communicate both emotions at once, or it would be if Cherryblod could look him in the eyes. “Cherry…”

“Don’t have anything to say in my own defense,” Cherryblod says with a sigh. “You’re free to disown me if you want.”

“I can’t do that and you know it,” Yosuke replies, as if it goes without saying. “...But it was pretty stupid to get executed just so you could get revenge, y’know.”

Cherryblod thinks of the state of Yosuke’s killer’s body and decides not to mention that part. “I’ll try not to do it again.”

* * *

_defenestration - trustfell_

“Why wasn’t there a mot-”

Katniss stops talking when she’s fully in Juri’s office and realizes that Juri isn’t there. Sitting at his desk, instead, is a chicken with a pale wig.

There’s a note on the desk. Katniss picks it up to read it, ignoring the chicken’s clucking.

‘I’m out at Otakon this weekend. Leave all questions, comments, and requests with my secretary while I’m gone.  
-Juri  
P.S. Violence against the Adjudicator’s secretary is also forbidden.’

Katniss stares at the chicken-secretary. The chicken-secretary stares back. It looks delicious.

...Maybe she could make it look like an accident?

Probably better not to risk getting executed, even for fresh game.

* * *

_hurr durr I'm a sheep - trustfell_

Cherryblod is relatively quick about listing the survivors and rating their attractiveness one to ten. He doesn’t make eye contact with anyone as he’s talking - certainly not Colress and Speedwagon, both blushing at their scores of nine - and when he’s done he folds his hands together and asks, “Will that be enough?”

Shirazu interrupts. “What the hell?!”

Cherryblod turns toward him. “You’re a teenager, I couldn’t in good conscience give you a very high number-”

“You gave me less than the King.”

“As I was saying, you’re a teenager. The King is a grown bird, not to mention cute in his own right.” Cherryblod glances towards the King, who is hiding his face behind his wings.

“...You gave me less than the King,” Shirazu repeats, more emphatically this time.

Cherryblod sighs. “Nothing I can say here will make this not weird to you, will it?”

“Nope.”

“That’s what I thought.”

* * *

_you are not expected to understand this - empatheias_

After finding Dazai again - it’s the second time Oda’s seen Dazai utterly lost within twenty-four hours, though it’s been much longer than that for Dazai himself - Oda wanders around this city he’s ended up in. It’s not the afterlife, though that would be a logical enough place to end up after dying.

The afterlife he would expect not to have shrimp people in it, for example.

He’s a friendly enough shrimp person, nodding to acknowledge Oda and asking, “You wouldn’t happen to have a map, would you? Only just got here.”

“Sorry,” Oda says, trying not to eye the tail too obviously. “I’m new myself.”

“Are you? In that case, would you like to look for some together and save time?” the shrimp replies. “Or I could try and track you down after I find one.”

Oda considers. “It’d be more efficient. Why not?”

“Pleasure to work with you. I’m Cherryblod.”

“Oda Sakunosuke.”

They shake hands. Cherryblod has a firm grip and the kind of reassuring smile that Oda could use right now.

* * *

The most important thing Oda learns about Cherryblod over their next few conversations is that he has a wife and a daughter.

“Don’t have any photos on me,” Cherryblod says, voice filled with regret, “but I did draw something, so you can have a reference.”

He hands over a piece of paper with a pencil drawing on it. Even assuming that Cherryblod has made his family cuter than they are:

“They’re adorable,” Oda says, studying the picture. Well, alright, mostly Lobco is adorable, but Doloz is cute for a giant lobster.

Cherryblod beams with pride, then asks, “What about you? Do you have any children?”

Oda swallows, and doesn’t answer for a few moments.

“...I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s - fine. I have five children,” he answers.

“You’re a lucky man,” Cherryblod says, gently. “Children are a blessing for every second we get to spend with them.”

He can’t disagree.

* * *

Memories float down from a tree now and again, and Oda’s first exposure to the idea that Cherryblod may not be what he seems is a memory of Cherryblod tearing into someone, blood splattered all over both of them.

‘If you call for help, no one will come.’

The fight is one-sided in Cherryblod’s favor, though Oda doesn’t see how it ends. He blinks, and there’s the current Cherryblod standing in front of him, looking pensive.

“All I regret about that one,” he says, “is that I wasn’t able to kill him.”

That’s not the frantic defense Oda was expecting. “You weren’t?”

“He’s a demon. He’d heal from anything I was able to do to him. All I could really do was inflict pain to try to ward him off.” Cherryblod’s eyes are dark. “He tortured my daughter, Oda. For months. He deserved far worse.”

Oda thinks of what he did after his own children died, and nods. “I’m sure he did.”

* * *

“A mobster?”

“I wasn’t exactly keeping it a secret.” But neither had Oda been forthcoming about it, so it makes sense that this is the first Cherryblod’s heard about his profession.

Cherryblod at least doesn’t look too put out. “Wouldn’t have pegged you for the type. ...Then again, would you have thought I was one a few hundred years ago?”

Oda shakes his head.

“Well. Now we’re out to each other about our mob ties and we’re even,” Cherryblod says. “Do you have anything else that would make us no longer friends?”

“...I can’t think of anything.”

* * *

_This time, for sure! - empatheias_

“I want to write,” comes Oda’s honest admission - Cherryblod knows people well enough to know it’s definitely honest. “But someone who kills doesn’t have any right to write about human lives. ...Or shrimp ones.”

Cherryblod folds his hands together. “Alright, then. Suppose they don’t have that right. How long do you have to go without killing before you get the right to follow your dream again?”

Oda looks at him askance. “I don’t know, exactly.”

“But it’s someone who ‘kills’, present tense? So eventually, you’ll be able to write what you want without guilt.”

“...It might be a long time.”

* * *

_Hello World - forest covered_

“Who needs coffee?” Alexis asks, pushing a full cup across the table. It looks innocent enough, but... “Mabel Juice will keep you up for a whole day, no problem!”

“What if I just need to be kept up for a few extra hours?” Yonaka asks, eyebrows raised. “What if I want to go to sleep at a reasonable hour still? Do you have anything for that?”

“Hm…” Alexis considers that, then shakes her head. “It’s go big or go home when it comes to sugar and caffeine!”

“...I think I’ll just get myself a cup of tea. Sorry, no offense.”

* * *

_automagically - forest covered_

It’s not that Rabbit’s room is hard to find - first room, first floor. It’s not that the first floor is particularly far away from Schneewittchen’s room on the fourth floor.

It’s not even that Schneewittchen’s lap is super comfortable. She’s pretty comfy, don’t get him wrong, but so is a pillow on a futon.

Actually, Rabbit isn’t sure what it is, but the more tired he gets the less he wants to pick his head off of Schneewittchen and actually go to bed. She hasn’t kicked him out yet, so it’s fine.

(Pillows don’t pet your hair. Maybe that’s it.)

* * *

_creeping elegance - forest covered_

Eater favors cute lingerie. Both Eaters do, actually: the daytime one thinks they suit her and how adorable she can be, and the guy Eater just likes to look hot.

Natsuru likes Eater’s lingerie, but it’s better not to let it get in the way. Like right now, when Eater’s panties are halfway down one leg and Natsuru has two fingers are inside him, carefully spreading him apart.

“Fff..fuck, Natsuru…” He’s lying back on the bed, squeezing one of his own breasts through the lacy bra. Natsuru rubs her thumb over his clit and he moans without shame or restraint.

Natsuru bats his hand away gently when he reaches for her. “L-let me take care of you first,” she says, not sure whether to watch his face or where her fingers are sliding in and out of him.

Face, she decides, as he gives her a grin that can only be considered lewd. “You’ll let me eat you out after that, yeah? Bet you’re delicious.”

It’s amazing that her cheeks can go even redder in this sort of situation.

* * *

_get a real computer - cosmographia_

Carrying Zeroken’s gem around for safekeeping seems like a good idea to Alice right up until the moment that he actually reforms, when she is suddenly on the ground under a heap of Overlord.

“Welcome back,” she says, gently trying to push him off of her. He feels heavier than usual, and it doesn’t take more than a glance at him to see why. “...You’ve grown suddenly.”

“Yeah!” Zeroken picks himself off the ground and offers a hand to help her up, which she accepts. “I know I have a growth spurt coming, but that’s in two hundred years, so I thought since I was poofed anyway, I’d just hurry it along a little! It’s no big deal.”

“...Are you taller than me?” Alice asks, almost incredulous. Now that she has a better look, it’s obvious that he has at least a couple inches on her. “Zeroken, that’s…”

His smile shifts into a more nervous expression.

“...wonderful, I could just kiss you right now!” So she does.

He turns bright red and freezes up. When she pulls away a few moments later, he looks dazed. “A-Alice?”

“Consider it a ‘welcome back’ gift.” She smiles brightly at him. “You’re still adorable, extra height or not.”

(When she’s poofed months later, she comes back minus half a foot of height, with a more petite figure like she’s always wanted. She still has enough weight to knock him over when she reforms, and she doesn’t bother to get off of him before kissing him.

“It’s tradition now,” she says, as he hides his blushing face in his hands.)

* * *

_drunk mouse syndrome - generic murdergame psl_

Alice is rarely seen wearing the Mastermind-provided jacket: it’s ugly, she says, and the high collar that covers the bottom half of your face is ridiculous. Thus, it’s noteworthy when she emerges from her room wearing it one morning, though only zipped up to the chin.

“Alice,” Supergirl says, eyebrows raised, “I thought you hated those jackets?”

“I do,” Alice answers, nonchalantly. “But if it has anything going for it, it’s the high collar.”

“High collar…?” Something clicks in Supergirl’s mind and she gasps. “Don’t tell me you-”

Alice grins and unzips her jacket down partway, enough to expose her neck and what is clearly a set of hickeys on it. “Something like that.”

“Wow… But, wait, the Mastermind is watching us in our rooms, isn’t he?” Supergirl asks, glancing upwards as if he could be seen spying on them from there.

“I don’t mind giving him something to watch,” Alice replies as she zips her jacket up again. “It’s not against the rules.”

A few hours later, the Mastermind announces a rules change about ‘excessive public displays of affection’. Supergirl looks towards Alice, who laughs and says, “Well, it was fun while it lasted.”

* * *

_clue-by-four - generic murdergame psl_

Alice has a coldness to her in the trial room not seen anywhere else. When called upon it, she’s explained it away as the need to steel herself to avoid being hurt: anyone could turn out to be the killer, and unless she wants to die, she has to send them to their death instead.

Still, she’s always up for helping put together the after-trial gathering: though her cooking isn’t anything to speak of, no one’s death drags her down enough that she can’t help look after those who remain. Despite her age, she plays the role of big sister to teens even a little older than her, and friend to the adults.

Until today. Today Alice cringes at her podium, fright plainly visible as she’s cornered for the murder of one of the fellow captives - until her expression slips to something blank.

“Alright. I see I’m not getting away with it. That’s too bad.” Her voice is clipped. “You’ve guessed the timeline of events fairly well, so there’s nothing else I have to say.”

There’s always a moment when someone confesses, where no one is sure whether to be relieved that they found the right person or to feel pain over who that person turned out to be.

“Alice…” Luna swallows. “How could you kill her? I thought you two were friends…”

“That’s easy. I don’t care about any of you.” Alice shuts her eyes. “I’ve been putting on an act from the start so you’d like me and I wouldn’t be suspected of murder. It would be ridiculous to trust anyone or to get attached here - I don’t know why you’re all so stupid.”

“Then, all those things you said…” Luna trails off.

“Most of them were lies,” Alice says.. “And the ones that weren’t weren’t important.”

“...Hey, Alice.” Zeroken has the podium next to Alice, and she turns to look at him when he speaks. “Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure.” Alice’s voice is colder now. “Even if you want to believe otherwise, we weren’t friends.”

“Yeah, I know, but… Those things you said about admiring my determination and pure heart and all that, you didn’t have to say any of that to get me to like you, I already did,” Zeroken replies, frowning. “So was that you being honest?”

Alice flinches. “I… Like I said, it’s not important.”

Others bring up more incidents, encouraging words Alice has said to them, support she’s given in their time of need.

“...Stop. Just stop!” Alice is gripping the edge of her podium now, tight enough to turn her knuckles white. “You’re all so… dazzling. You can care about people even when you know it might get you hurt, you can trust people even in a place like this… I’m not that good. I can’t be that good.”

Zeroken reaches out and sets a hand on her arm: she doesn’t fight him. “Even if we’re not actually friends, I still like you.”

Alice laughs like she’s about to cry.

* * *

_Garbage In, Garbage Out - generic murdergame psl_

“Bro! Bro!!”

It’s a voice that Killia hasn’t heard for two months, interrupting his conversation with Seraphina. He turns his head - there’s Zeroken, same as ever, and someone else he doesn’t recognize at all standing a good foot above Zeroken.

“Welcome back,” Killia says, with a tiny smile.

“Where have you been?!” Seraphina snaps, though she doesn’t immediately reach for her gun. “You’ve been missing for two months! Not even Christo could figure out where you were - we thought you were dead!”

“Aha, sorry about that. Some stuff happened,” Zeroken says. “Seraphina Sis, were you really worried about me?”

“I - of course not! I was merely concerned about the two months’ worth of rent you owed me,” she huffs.

“...Why would he owe you rent if he wasn’t here?” Killia asks, eyebrows raised.

“That’s…” Seraphina trails off, clearly failing to think of a decent excuse.

When she doesn’t come up with anything, Killia says to Zeroken, “I knew you wouldn’t have died so easily, but I’m glad to see you’re safe.”

“Aww... thanks, bro. I’d never let you down!” Zeroken says, chest puffed out.

“You did technically die, though,” the other person says. “You came back afterwards, but you certainly did die.”

Zeroken deflates. “Aww, Alice, why’d you have to tell him that…?”

“And who’s this?” Killia asks.

Perking up again immediately, Zeroken says with obvious pride, “This is my girlfriend, Alice!”

“Pleasure to meet you,” Alice says, with a wink. “Zeroken’s spoken highly of you - I’ve been looking forward to meeting the esteemed Killia in person.”

Killia starts to reply, but is interrupted by Seraphina. “You made us think you were dead for two months and then you come back not only alive, but with a girlfriend?!”

Zeroken takes a step back. “I-it wasn’t really my idea to go missing…”

“That’s unforgivable! I insist on an appropriate punishment,” Seraphina huffs. “Overload skill: True Brionac Gaze!”

In between “Overload skill” and the actual use of Seraphina’s Overload, Zeroken had hidden behind Alice, and so the skill whiffs on coming into contact with a woman’s gaze instead of Zeroken’s.

Alice blinks, then turns to look down at Zeroken. “What is that supposed to do?” she asks. “I don’t feel any different.”

“Seraphina,” Killia says with a sigh. “It’s not his fault, so don’t punish him. Even if he did bring back a girlfriend.”

Zeroken peeks out around Alice. “Th...thanks, bro…”

* * *

_gender mender - generic murdergame psl_

“Naturally, since I’m a temptress, catching people staring at me is a matter of course, but - Alice,” Seraphina says, and Alice jolts. “Aren’t you dating Zeroken?”

“Of course I am,” Alice says, miffed by the implication. “Even if I weren’t a loyal girlfriend, I’m interested in men.”

“Is that so? Then what are you gazing so longingly at me for?” Seraphina asks, hands on her hips.

Alice pauses. “Your clothes.”

“Oh, you noticed? I am easily the most fashionable person in this entire Pocket Netherworld,” Seraphina replies with a smirk. “Everything you will ever see on me is brand name, down to the last bracelet.”

“I thought so. Not only you, but almost all of the girls around here have low-cut tops, or bare midsections, or thigh-high socks and short skirts...” Alice sighs, and pulls a little at her long, heavy coat. “Even if I were comfortable showing that much skin, I’d never be able to pull it off.”

“That’s just demon fashion,” Seraphina says, without hesitation. “If Zeroken thinks someone as cute as you isn’t good enough for him because she’s wearing human fashion, he’s an even bigger idiot than I thought and he doesn’t deserve you.”

“...You’re too kind, Seraphina.” Alice gives her a genuine smile. “Maybe there are some parts of demon fashion that I can still work into my wardrobe? I’d love to go shopping with you sometime~”

“Ohohoho! When it comes to clothes shopping, you can always rely on me.”

* * *

_boat anchor - yonaka/haruka psl_

In the age of digital cameras, Polaroid cameras are affordable when you can find them. Yonaka snags them at every opportunity, and takes pictures of Haruka.

Haruka at parties they weren’t actually invited to. Haruka in museums after they’ve closed for the day. Haruka relaxing in cheap motel rooms. 

“Yonacchi, why’d you take a picture?” Haruka asks, head tilted, eyes wide. “I’m not doing anything exciting.”

“It’s proof,” Yonaka says, smiling back at her. “That you were here, and you were happy.”

“...Ehehe. You say some smart things sometimes.”

Haruka makes sure to take more pictures of Yonaka after that.

* * *

_your sadly pathetic bleatings are harshing my mellow - satanick/valmont psl_

Being on Satanick’s world is a double-edged sword, of sorts.

On one hand, Valmont’s completely within Satanick’s grasp, and that never… well, rarely means anything pleasant for him.

On the other… he’s completely within Satanick’s grasp: he knows what to expect from him by now. No other demon tries to make a move on him, because Satanick has made it clear that he considers Valmont his. Even though Valmont would like it to be known that he does NOT belong to him, thank you very much-

He might not protest too much in front of other demons. For practical reasons.

* * *

_DEC 25 = OCT 31 - satanick/valmont psl_

Satanick has sharp teeth. Many demons do, although Valmont’s only met a small handful of those who call Satanick’s world home, and their teeth weren’t exactly high on his list of concerns at the time.

Satanick’s teeth are much more relevant to him now, because that’s Satanick’s throat around his cock and while Valmont could sit back (stand back, he’s chained to a wall again) and try to enjoy the feeling, he’s too worried that the points of his teeth will make contact with what is a very sensitive body part to even begin to relax.

Satanick picks up on this, because of course he does. He pulls off slowly, grinning in a way that just shows off his teeth more. “Relax, V! I’ve done this millions of times, there’s no way I’ll even scrape you unless I’m trying to~”

“That’s quite possibly the least reassuring thing you could have said,” Valmont says in reply.

Laughing, Satanick slides back down on his cock, tongue dragging over a vein on the bottom that has Valmont cursing (and cursing the way his hands automatically move to grip Satanick’s horns and urge him on, before the chains stop him from getting far). He takes Valmont’s cock down his throat like it’s nothing, and perhaps it is, who can say how big demons get? ...That’s an unpleasant thought and Valmont chooses not to linger on it, especially when Satanick starts humming and the vibrations nearly undo him.

With Satanick’s mouth alone sending heat through his body, his mind starts to fall into a haze. He’s not aware of how long it takes, only that the precious seconds where his vision goes blank and Satanick is swallowing around him are much more pleasant than afterwards, when Satanick pulls off of him and immediately sticks his tongue into Valmont’s mouth.

Eurgh.

* * *

_bad and wrong - satanick/valmont psl_

Of course Satanick would want to bugger himself, or rather Valmont in Satanick’s body. The Devil reaches unparalleled amounts of narcissism every time he opens his mouth.

Ignoring for the moment whether Satanick actually intended to switch their bodies - he claims he didn’t, but Valmont has never trusted a word he says, particularly when he’s looking at him so ravenously - the fact remains that he’s currently flat on his back with Satanick-in-himself sitting on top of him. His wings are pinned to the bed, it’s beyond irritating-

Wait.

He doesn’t have to do this. Satanick’s body is stronger than his, and while Valmont may not know how to work any of his powers, he can just push Satanick right off of him.

Satanick pouts when he’s shoved away. “You’re so meaaaan.”

“I’m the one who’s mean?” Valmont asks, eyebrows raised. It’d be disbelieving if he hadn’t learned what kind of annoying person Satanick was by now.

“Mean and short-sighted,” Satanick says. “Sure, you’re stronger than me right now, so I can’t make you do anything… but this’ll wear off in a few hours at most. And then what do you think will happen, if you made me mad?”

He grins, and it’s only a little less intimidating for lack of sharp teeth. Valmont hopes he’s that intimidating to normal people.

The idea of Satanick getting revenge for things not going his way is not a pleasant one. Compared to that, what’s one more session of sex, especially one where Satanick’s powers don’t come into play? And he has always thought of himself as handsome…

Sighing, Valmont lets his arms drop to his sides. “Fine. Do as you like.”

“Don’t mind if I do~”

Satanick bites even more often with blunter teeth, and in more places. The pain isn’t as sharp and Valmont doesn’t have to worry about marks left behind, so that’s the only reason he lets him do it, really.

Besides, he’s too distracted by seeing his face make that expression, that unabashedly lewd smirk. “Could you look a little less…”

“What, like I’m enjoying it?” Satanick asks with a giggle.

“Yes, that. And don’t ever laugh like that with my voice again, it’s disturbing.” Valmont turns his head away to avoid having to look at Satanick’s - his - face.

“Aaas you wish~”

Satanick doesn’t giggle once he’s inside of Valmont - himself - whoever. He moans instead, a shameless sound Valmont dearly hopes he’s never made himself. Valmont would tell him to stop it, but his breath hitches every time Satanick thrusts inside, not gentle even from the start.

It’s just because it’s Satanick’s body getting the treatment that the roughness makes Valmont gasp and his hips start to rise to meet Satanick’s thrusts. The body must be accustomed to it - that’s all it is.

“You’re especially gorgeous today, you know...”

Valmont doesn’t fall for that one. “Bugger- off-”

Satanick laughs in between his moans and drives in especially deep, making Valmont curse.

It’s going to be a long few hours.


End file.
